#■"■«* 


SHIRT 

ANiy 

mm 

JAMES  F  J 
ARCHIBALD 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  01706  6069 


r 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


\ 


J 


'Iw 


0 


UNIVERSITY  OF  QAUFORNIA   SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  01706  6069 


Central  University  Library 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 
Please  Note:  This  item  is  subject  to  recall. 

Date  Due 

f^PR  2  8  1994 


i- 


CI  39  (7/93) 


UCSDLb. 


Y^-^fm 


(^\l 


j\\n^  h\\fJu3X 


BLUE    SHIRT   AND    KHAKI 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arcliive 

in  2007  witli  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/bluesliirtkliakicoOOarcliiala 


Blue  Shirt  and  Khaki  at  Malta. 


BLUE     SHIRT 
AND     KHAKI 

A    COMPARISON 


By    JAMES    F.    J.    ARCHIBALD 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 
FROM  PHOTOGRAPHS 
TAKEN  BY  THE  AUTHOR 


SILVER,     BURDETT     AND 

COMPANY,       NEIV      TORK 
BOSTON,     CHICAGO.       1901 


Copyright,    1901,    by 
Silver,  Burdett  &  Company 


Press  of  T.  J.  Little  &  Co. 
Astor  Place,  New  York 


Co  tl)e  Mtmot^  of  Mr>  dFatfjer. 


Contents 


I.  The  New  Soldier  and  His  Equipment  .  17 

II.  British  and  American  Recruits          .  .  38 

III.  The  Common  Soldier  in  the  Field  .  .  60 

IV.  The  Officers         .....  90 
V.  American  and  British  Tactics            .  .  121 

VI.  Feeding  the  Two  Armies        .          .  .  147 

VII.  The  Railroad  in  Modern  War          .  .  171 

VIII.  Transportation  of  Troops  by  Sea     .  .  194 

IX.  The  Last  Days  of  the  Boer  Capital  .  217 

X.  The  British  in  Pretoria            .          .  .  247 


List  of  Illustrations 


A  Guard  at  Pretoria  .  .  .  .  .  .17 

Captain  Arthur  Lee,  R.A.,  attache  with  General  Shafter 

in  Cuba         .  .  .  .  .  .  .19 

Captain  Slocum,  U.S.A.,  attache  w'xxh   Lord  Roberts  in 

South  Africa  .  ,  .  .  .  .  .19 

British  soldiers  visiting  the  U.S.  troop-ship   Sumner,  en 

route  to  the  Philippines      .  .  .  .  .23 

British  officers  at  Malta,  watching  the  setting-up  exercises 

of  American  soldiers  .....        27 

A  company  of  the  Eighth  U.  S.  Infantry  in  the  field. 

Lieutenant  M.  B.  Stuart    .  .  .  .  -33 

A  review  of  the  Life  Guards  in  London        .          .  -33 

Horse  Guard  on  duty  at  headquarters,  London       .  .        38 

Possible  candidates            .          .          .          .          .  .41 

Persuasion  by  sergeant-major      .           .           .           .  .41 

British  recruits  at  fencing  practice        ....        45 

British  recruits  at  bayonet  practice       .          .          .  .45 

A  musician  of  the  Gordon  Highlanders,  age,  seventeen  .        5  i 


List    of    Illustrations 


A  Boer  fighting  **  man,"  age,  twelve.  Twice  distin- 
guished for  bravery  in  action.  He  fought  at  Spion 
Kop,  Colenso,  Dundee,  and  Ladysmith 

Colonel  Napier's  frame  for  recruit-drill  at  Aldershot 

One  of  the  exercises  in  British  recruit-drill   . 

Setting-up  exercises  of  American  soldiers  during  their  visit 
in  Malta  ...... 

Recruit  drill  in  the  British  army 

American  cow-boy  with  Canadians  in  South  Africa 

Dangebhoy  hospital  cart  used  in  South  Africa 

The  Twelfth  Lancers  in  South  Africa 

General  French  examining  the  enemy's  position  during 
the  battle  of  Diamond  Hill 

Heliographing  from  Diamond  Hill  to  Lord  Roberts  in 
Pretoria  ...... 

Burial  at  Arlington  of  426  American  soldiers  who  fell  in 
Cuba     ....... 

Gathering  the  dead  after  the  battle  of  Diamond  Hill 

American  volunteer  oificer  .... 

A  cadet  drill  at  the  West  Point  Military  Academy 

Generals  Chaffee,  Brooke,  and  Lee  reviewing  the  army 
in  Cuba  ...... 


Major  Eastwood,  Twelfth  Lancers 
Colonel  Beech,  Egyptian  Cavalry 
Sir  John  Milbanke,  V.C. 


List    of    Illustrations 


Native   East  Indian   servants  of  British  officers   in 
Africa   ...... 

Lieutenant-General  N.  A.  Miles,  U.  S.  A. 

General  French  and  staff.  South  Africa 

American  officers  of  the   Eighth  Infantry  en  route 


South 


to  the 


PAGE 


Colonel  Chamberlain,  Military  Secretary       ...  94 

A  Canadian  officer  ......  94 

British  Colonel  of  Volunteers     .....  96 

Colonel  Peabody,  U.  S.  Volunteers    ....  96 

Staats    Model   Schoolhouse,    Pretoria,    where   the   British 

officers  were  first  confined  as  prisoners  of  war  .      loi 

Barbed -wire  prison,    Pretoria,  where  the   British  officers 

were  confined  after  their  removal  from  the  city         .      loi 

Released  British  officers  in  Pretoria  after  the  entry  of  Lord  • 
Roberts  ..... 


105 

105 
109 
113 


Philippines      .           .           .           .           .           .  .113 

General  Ian  Hamilton  in  South  Africa           .           .  .115 

Brigadier-General  Fitzhugh  Lee,  United  States  Army  .      118 

Major-General  J.  R.  Brooke,  United  States  Army  .      118 

American  officer  at  Siboney        .          .          .          .  .121 

Boer  fighting  men  watching  a  British  flanking  movement 

during  the  battle  of  Pretoria,  while  building  defenses      128 

British  soldiers  pulling  army  wagons  across  a  drift  .  .      131 

Boer  artillerists  waiting  under  shell   fire  for  the   British 

advance  .  .  .  .  .  .  •      M  3 

13 


List    of    Illustrations 


The  battle  of  Pretoria,  June  4,  1 900  ;  Boer  guns  in  action  ; 

British  advance  along  the  first  range  of  hills    .  .      137 

The  unpicturesqueness  of  modern  war.  In  the  range  of 
this  photograph  of  the  battle  of  Diamond  Hill  the 
hardest  fighting  is  going  on.  Twenty  cannon  and 
3,000  rifles  are  firing,  and  two  regiments  are  charg- 
ing ;  but  no  more  can  be  seen  than  is  shown  above  .      145 

A  difficult  kopje  ;  two  hundred  men  are  hiding  behind  the 

rocks     .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .145 

U.  S.  Officer  providing  for  feeding  the  poor  .  .147 

Camp  of  a   transport   train  in  General   French's  supply 

column  .  .  .  .  .  .  .151 

A  base  of  supplies  at  de  Aar  Junction  .  .  .  .155 

An  improvised  commissariat  cart  in  South  Africa    .  .      162 

A  soldier  with  three  months'  provisions         .  .  .169 

Major  Burnham,  the  American  Chief  of  Scouts  for  Lord 

Roberts  .  .  .  .  .  .  .171 

The  old  and  the  new  military  bridge  at  Modder  River    .      i  74 

Defense  of  a  line  of  communication  in  the  Trannvaal        .      176 

Canadian  transport  at  a  difficult  drift   .  .  .  .181 

Cape  carts  with  British  officers'  personal  luggage  ;  nearly 

every  officer  had  one  of  these  carts        .  .  .182 

A  British  transport  train  on  the  veldt  .  .  .  .183 

Canadian  transport  at  a  difficult  drift   .  .  .  .187 

The  Guards  and  mounted  infantry  at  Pretoria  Station      .      191 

14 


List   of  Illustrations 


Armament  on  an  American  transport  . 

British  soldiers  leaving  the  Sumner  after  having  exchanged 
uniforms  with  Americans 

American  transport  Sumner  in  the  harbor  at  Malta 

A  British  transport  taken  from  the  merchant  marine 

The  Eighth  United  States  Infantry  going  ashore  for  drill 
at  Malta  ...... 

Colonel  Jocelyn  and  Captain  Croxton,  Eighth  U.  S.  In 
fantry,  at  Malta        ..... 

Mr.  R.  H.  Davis  in  Pretoria    .... 

Consul  Hay  and  Vice-Consul  Coolidge  bidding  good-by 
to  Captain  Slocum  at  Pretoria 

A.  D.  T.  Messenger  James  Smith  in  front  of  President 
Kriiger's  house,  immediately  after  presenting  the 
message  from  the  American  children 

The  battle  of  Pretoria  :  Boers  awaiting  the  Bridsh  advance 
under  artillery  fire    ...... 

The  battle  of  Pretoria  :   British  naval  guns  shelling  forts  . 

General  De  la  Rey  and  staff  at  Pretoria  ;  his  nephew, 
twelve  years  old,  is  serving  on  the  staff 

Field  cornets  in  Pretoria  receiving  orders  from  a  general  . 

Boer  women  bidding  good-by  to  their  men  ofF  for  the 
front      ........ 

Russian  hospital  corps  with  the  Boers  :  the  wounded  man 
is  Colonel  Blake,  formerly  U.  S.  A      . 

15 


194 

199 

205 
205 


211 

217 


226 

229 
229 

232 

233 


List   of  Illustrations 


Boers  under  heavy   shell    fire,    awaiting    British    advance 

behind  their  defenses  .....      243 

Burghers'  horses  during  the  battle  of  Pretoria  .  .      243 

The  Boer  retreat  from  Pretoria  .  .  ...      246 

One  of  the  Guards  at  Pretoria    .....      247 

General  De  la  Rey  and  a  group  of  his  burghers  while 

awaiting  a  British  attack     .  ,  .  .  .      249 

Lord  Roberts's  advance  bodyguard  approaching  Pretoria  .      251 

British  guns  captured  by  the  Boers       .  .  .  .251 

Lord  Roberts  and  staff  approaching  Pretoria  (Lord  Kitch- 
ener is  on  the  white  horse.  Lord  Roberts  is  the  first 
leading  figure  at  the  right)  .  .  .  .253 

Lord  Roberts  and  Lord  Kitchener  with  staff  entering  Pre- 
toria at  the  railway  station,  June   5,  1900.      The 
two  locomotives  on  the  right,  with  Boer  engineers, 
were  started  immediately  afterwards  in  an  attempt  . 
to  escape  to  the  Boer  lines  .  .  .  .255 

Gordon  Highlanders  entering  Pretoria,  June  5,  1900      .      259 

Types  of  the  crowd  who  watched  the  British  entry  .      259 

Lord  Kitchener  bidding  good-by  to  the   foreign  attaches 

after  the  capture  of  Pretoria  .  .  .  .265 


16 


BLUE   SHIRT 
AND    KHAKI 


CHAPTER  I. 
The  New  Soldier  and  his  Equipment 

WHEN    the  Second  Division  under 
General  Lawton  swarmed  up  the 
fire-swept     hill     of     El     Caney, 
through  an  unremitting  storm  of 

bullets,  Colonel  Arthur  Lee,  of 
the  British  Royal  Artillery,  ex- 
claimed, "  I  would  not  have  be- 
lieved it !  " 

Two  years    later,   when    Lord 
Roberts's  army  of  ragged  khaki 
poured  into  Pretoria  after  their 
two  thousand  miles'  march  from 
the  Cape,  Captain  Slocum,  of  the 
United     States    InfantryL     said, 
"  Tommy  Atkins  is   certaiTriya 
wonder." 
There   is  obvious   reason  for  a  detailed  compari- 
son between  the  fighting  men  of  the  United  States 
and    Great    Britain.     They  have  more  in  common 
than  either  army  has  with  the  soldiers  of  any  other 
2  17 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


nation.  They  have  both  during  the  last  three  years 
fought  testing  wars  against  other  civilized  nations, 
in  which  they  faced  for  the  first  time  the  new  con- 
ditions of  modern  warfare.  The  relative  qualifica- 
tions of  the  two  armies  have  a  pressing  bearing 
on  the  troublous  questions  of  alliance  or  disputes 
yet  to  be  between  them.  When  the  soldiers  of 
these  two  nations  meet  now,  each  has  a  sense  of 
their  peculiar  relation  of  mutuality,  which  is  made 
piquant  by  the  uncertainty  whether  they  will  con- 
tinue to  support  one  another,'  as  in  China,  or 
whether  there  is  an  evil  day  in  store  when  they 
shall  have  to  cut  one  another's  throats.  But  what- 
ever the  uncertainty,  and  whatever  the  surface  criti- 
cisms which  each  passes  upon  the  other,  there  is  at 
bottom  both  respect  and  fraternity  on  the  part  of 
each. 

The  American  soldier  to-day  occupies  a  new  place 
in  the  regard  of  the  world.  Up  to  the  campaigning 
of  July  and  August,  1898,  in  Cuba,  Porto  Rico, 
and  Luzon,  the  military  men  of  Europe  were  accus- 
tomed to  think  of  the  fighting  force  of  the  United 
States  as  a  thing  too  small  to  be  considered.  They 
had  forgotten  the  great  Civil  War,  and  they  did  not 
comprehend  our  vast  resources  for  a  volunteer  army. 
A  standing  army  of  25,000  men  was  insignificant  to 
officers  and  statesmen  who  were  accustomed  to  esti- 
mate a  national  force  in  the  terms  of  millions.  Con- 
sequently, the  martial  potency  of  the  United  States 
had  fallen  into  general  contempt.  This  judgment, 
however,  was  wholly  changed  in  the  space  of  a  few 

18 


The    New    Soldier    and    His    Equipment 


Captain  A  rthur  Lee^  R.  A., 
attache  with  General  Shaf- 
fer in  Cuba. 


Captain  Slocum,  U.S.  A., 
attache'  with  Lord  Rob- 
erts in  South  Africa. 


months,  and  instead  of  considering  our  military 
force  on  a  level  with  that  of  some  little  South 
American  republic,  Europe  suddenly  comprehended 
that  there  was  a  new  military  power  in  the  world 
which  had  not  been  taken  into  account.  From  the 
time  that  over  two  million  men  responded  to  the 
President's  call  for  200,000  volunteers — many  of 
them  fairly  trained  soldiers,  and  nearly  all  of  them 
skilled  in  the  use  of  firearms — the  sentiment  of 
Europe  was  changed. 
There  was  a  more  radical  change  in  the  public 
19 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


sentiment  of  England  than  anywhere  else.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  Spanish-American  War  one  Lon- 
don paper  said,  "Now  we  will  see  the  boastful 
Yankee  go  down  before  the  fighting  Spaniard.' 
The  general  tone  of  the  English  press,  if  not  di- 
rectly hostile,  was  not  friendly.  But  a  few  exhibi- 
tions of  American  arms  changed  the  opinion  to 
such  a  marked  degree  that  soon  there  was  hardly  a 
hostile  paper  in  all  England.  This  popular  reaction 
in  favor  of  America  is  not,  however,  to  be  confused 
with  the  attitude  of  the  British  Government,  which 
had  been  friendly  from  the  start,  and  which  had 
done  our  cause  inestimable  benefit  through  its  for- 
cible "  hands  off!  "  communication  to  other  Euro- 
pean powers.  Nevertheless,  this  friendly  dispo- 
sition of  the  British  Ministry  was  confirmed  by  its 
perception  of  the  increasing  prestige  of  the  Ameri- 
can military  force  both  in  England  and  on  the 
Continent. 

But  if  the  American  soldier  seems  only  recently 
to  have  come  to  his  own  in  the  appreciation  of 
Europe,  he  has  long  been  the  same  soldier  that  he 
is  to-day.  To  be  sure,  training  and  discipline  have 
improved  him  as  a  product;  our  officers  have  made 
the  study  of  the  soldier  a  science,  and  each  year 
has  marked  a  finer  adaptation  of  methods  to  ends; 
Yankee  ingenuity  has  had  fewer  traditional  pre- 
judices to  overcome  than  have  prevailed  abroad,  and 
in  the  relations  of  officers  and  men,  in  the  develop- 
ment of  each  unit's  individuality  as  a  self-reliant  in- 
telligence,  the  later  years  have  been  a  period  of 

20 


The   New    Soldier   and    His    Equipment 

surprising  evolution.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
American  soldier's  native  quality  is  the  same  as  in 
that  Civil  War  which  required  four  years  of  more 
terrible  slaughter  than  Europe  ever  knew  before 
one  side  would  yield  to  the  other.  If  we  were 
always  confident  of  him,  our  boasts  were  founded 
on  an  experience  of  his  fibre  which  Europe  had  not 
apprehended.  His  valor,  his  quiet  contempt  of 
death,  could  not,  in  its  most  extreme  exhibition, 
surprise  his  own  countrymen.  The  only  thing  that 
robbed  the  gallant  Hobson  and  his  comrades  of  the 
highest  distinction  was  that  several  thousand  others 
on  the  fleet  were  sick  with  disappointment  that  they 
could  not  go  in  their  place. 

Nevertheless,  the  appreciation  of  Europe  is  agree- 
able, if  belated. 

The  soldier  of  the  Queen  did  not  need  a  new 
opportunity  to  prove  his  quality.  From  the  time 
that  Cromwell's  Ironsides  made  the  chivalry  of  the 
Continent  to  skip,  Europe  and  America  have  had  a 
steadfast  respect  for  the  redoubtability  of  the  Brit- 
ish warrior.  Moreover,  he  has  been  a  civilizing 
power  throughout  the  world ;  wherever  he  has 
cleared  a  path,  commerce  has  followed.  It  has  not 
always  seemed  like  Christian  justice  to  hew  a  way 
for  trade  with  a  sword,  or  to  subject  an  unwilling 
people  to  a  rule  of  might  under  which  they  chafe 
and  fret;  but  there  is  always  one  word  of  praise 
which  can  truthfully  be  said — the  government  that 
reaches  from  London  to  the  remotest  quarters  of 
the  globe  has  made  the  world  better,  happier,  and 

21 


Blue   Shirt   and    Khaki 


securer,  even  through  its  conquests  over  unwilhng 
peoples.  Redcoat  and  khaki  have  stood  for  order, 
and,  in  the  main  and  in  the  long  run,  for  the  largest 
justice  to  the  largest  number. 

The  time-honored  phrase  about  the  flag  and  trade 
is  true.  But  few  pause  to  consider  the  cost  that  is 
paid  by  the  men  of  the  empire  who  carry  the  flag 
forward  that  trade  may  follow.  When  the  Queen 
issued  the  proclamation  of  war  against  the  two  re- 
publics nestled  in  the  heart  of  South  Africa,  the 
world  looked  on  and  pitied  the  little  States,  and 
averred  that  such  a  war  could  not  last  more  than  a 
few  weeks;  but  President  Kriiger  said,  **  If  Eng- 
land plants  her  flag  on  this  land  she  will  pay  a  price 
in  blood  that  will  stagger  humanity."  She  has  paid 
that  price  for  more  than  a  year,  and  the  payment  is 
not  yet  complete.  Never  before  has  she  paid  such 
cost  in  the  blood  of  her  own  sons.  This  is  not 
the  place  to  discuss  the  right  and  wrong  of  that 
struggle.  Spite  of  all  protests,  it  became  a  ghastly 
fact  of  history;  from  apparently  impregnable  kopjes, 
and  their  hillsides  that  were  shambles,  the  deter- 
mined English  soldiers  drive  the  unawed  burghers 
over  the  vast  veldts,  fighting  literally  from  rock  to 
rock. 

It  was  my  opportunity  to  be  with  both  the  Boer 
and  British  armies  in  South  Africa,  and  to  observe 
the  fighting  qualities  of  the  men  on  both  sides. 
After  the  Boers  evacuated  Pretoria,  and  I  remained 
to  witness  the  British  operations,  I  came  to  agree 
with  Captain   Slocum   that  "  Tommy  Atkins  is  a 

22 


British  soldiers  visiting  the  U.  S.  troop-ship  Sumner, 
en  route  to  the  Philippines. 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


wonder."  He  certainly  is.  During  two  years 
spent-  in  Europe  I  saw  the  great  manoeuvres  on 
Salisbury  Plain  and  at  Aldershot ;  I  have  seen  the 
British  soldier  on  foreign  garrison  service  and  in 
the  field ;  and,  last,  I  have  seen  him  in  Africa,  con- 
fronted by  new  problems  and  fighting  against  mod- 
ern weapons  in  the  hands  of  thinking  men.  From 
the  point  of  view  of  this  experience  I  venture  to 
draw  certain  comparisons  and  contrasts  between 
him  and  the  American  soldier,  whose  fighting  steps 
I  have  followed  in  half  a  dozen  campaigns,  against 
the  Indians  in  the  West  and  also  in  the  war  with 
Spain. 

The  system  of  "  crack"  regiments  in  the  British 
army  has  done  much  to  injure  the  service  of  that 
country,  as  it  has  developed  the  "  spit  and  polish  " 
ofificer,  as  he  is  called  in  London — an  imposing 
society  soldier,  useless  in  war.  The  men  of  these 
regiments  are  the  pick  of  the  nation,  but  unless  there 
is  an  exceptional  campaign  they  are  not  sent  out. 
The  Guards  are  usually  ordered  to  the  front  long 
enough  to  get  their  medals,  and  then  are  sent  home. 
During  the  last  Soudan  campaign  the  battalion  of 
Guards  was  away  from  England  only  a  few  weeks, 
and  were,  as  the  late  war  correspondent,  G.  W. 
Steevens,  said,  "  packed  in  ice,  shipped  to  the  front, 
and  then  shipped  back."  During  the  Boer  War 
the  Guards  have  not  had  such  an  easy  time,  as  it 
was  necessary  to  use  the  whole  army  in  active 
operations ;  and  they  have  proved  themselves  good 
fighters  when  properly  officered. 

24 


The   New    Soldier   and    His   Equipment 

There  is  one  exception  to  the  rule  of  pampering 
the  "  crack"  regiments  in  the  case  of  the  Gordon 
Highlanders,  for  they  have  seen  the  hardest  service 
of  every  campaign  since  the  organization  of  the 
regiment.  Their  glory  is  in  fighting  rather  than 
in  polo  and  cricket,  in  campaigning  rather  than  in 
dancing. 

The  sturdy,  practical  soldiers  have  a  large  con- 
tempt for  the  youngster  of  birth  who  has  received 
his  commission  through  favoritism,  and  they  never 
lose  an  opportunity  of  expressing  it.  While  in 
Pretoria  after  the  British  occupation,  I  installed 
myself  in  one  of  the  best  houses  in  the  city,  having 
commandeered  it  when  the  owner,  who  was  a  Brit- 
ish subject,  fled.  To  make  my  position  more  secure 
I  hung  out  a  small  American  flag,  so  that  I  should 
not  be  disturbed.  When  the  British  entered  the 
capital,  General  French's  cavalry  division  occupied 
the  portion  of  the  town  in  which  my  borrowed 
home  stood,  and  I  invited  two  or  three  of  the 
officers  of  his  staff  to  share  the  house  with  me. 
Some  days  after  their  acceptance  an  order  was 
issued  by  the  military  governor  to  seize  all  horses 
in  Pretoria,  and  a  battalion  of  Guards  was  detailed 
to  form  a  line  across  the  city,  making  a  clean  sweep 
of  every  horse  not  already  in  governmental  posses- 
sion. I  rode  up  to  my  door  just  as  the  line  struck 
that  vicinity,  and  the  soldiers  were  leading  out  some 
of  the  horses  belonging  to  the  cavalry  staff  officers 
living  with  me.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Welsh,  a  thor- 
ough soldier,  who  has  learned  his  profession  by  hard 

25 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


campaigning,  was  at  the  moment  expostulating  with 
a  stupid  officer  of  the  Guards,  who  was  just  remark- 
ing, "  Beastly  business,  this  horse-stealing,  but — 
aw — ^I  have  to  do  it,  don't  you  know  ?  " 

Well,  you  can't  have  my  horse,"  exclaimed 
Colonel  Welsh,  with  an  emphasis  that  told  the 
Guardsman  he  was  some  one  of  importance. 

That  officer  screwed  his  glass  into  his  eye,  looked 
about,  and  seeing  the  American  flag,  turned  to 
Colonel  Welsh,  who  was  in  full  uniform,  and  said, 
"  Oh,  I  say — are  you  the  American  consul  fellow  ?  " 

This  was  too  much  for  the  old  soldier,  who  fairly 
exploded  in  his  indignation;  but  his  pity  for  the 
poor  Londoner  prompted  him  to  explain,  with  an 
amusing  manner,  that  he  had  the  honor  of  holding 
the  Queen's  commission,  and  that  foreign  consuls 
were  not  in  the  habit  of  wearing  the  British  uni- 
form. 

When  the  Ninth  Infantry  marched  into  Santiago 
to  act  as  a  guard  of  honor  to  General  Shafter,  and 
to  participate  in  the  raising  of  the  flag  over  the  pal- 
ace, a  Spanish  officer  standing  by  me  on  the  cathe- 
dral steps  asked  if  this  was  one  of  our  "crack" 
regiments;  I  told  him  it  was  not,  and  he  looked 
rather  surprised. 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say  you  have  any  more  like 
this,  do  you  ?  "   he  inquired. 

"  Why,  they  are  all  the  same  out  there  in  the 
trenches,"  I  replied;  but  he  evidently  did  not  be- 
lieve me,  and  then  I  realized  that  here  was  a  regi- 
ment of  men  the  like  of  whom  the  Spaniards  had 

26 


'li^^^^^^HvjpflB 

:     i 

^^^ 

7 

Hfli^'"'' 

/        . 

/ 

y* 

'':'flHHt^^Efl 

m 

1 

1 

mjH^^^B'vUh 

•" 

t 

F 

J 

L 

■i 

!!jMi.. 

< 

^ 

^1^. 

1 

\  <  1 

^ 

^^^^^A^ 

. 

■1 

>S1^^^HH| 

1 

s 

^ 

' 

''^^    ^ 

m 

|F^^ 

^'  •■' 

p^ 

■t. '  * 

!-«-  Tfilfl 

Pf^    ' 

'^ 

m 

Wfm 

P^      : 

' 

m 

Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


never  seen,  its  smallest  man  taller  than  their  tallest, 
its  horses  half  a  foot  taller  than  theirs,  and  I  ceased 
to  wonder  that  he  thought  it  a  "  crack  "  regiment. 
The  army  of  the  United  States,  when  the  Spanish 
War  broke  out,  was  superlative  in  its  personnel. 
The  hard  times  of  a  few  years  before  had  led  hosts 
of  men  of  exceptionally  high  grade  to  apply  for  en- 
listment, and  of  these  fine  applicants  not  more  than 
one  in  ten  had  been  taken ;  each  regiment  was  a 
sifted  remainder.  But  in  our  army  it  is  the  rule 
that  if  there  is  one  regiment  more  "  crack"  than 
another,  that  is  the  one  to  have  the  honor  of  the 
hardest  service. 

In  the  use  of  government  funds  in  the  field  the 
British  army  has  a  great  advantage  over  our  own 
force,  for  their  of^cers  are  allowed  much  more  free- 
dom in  expenditures  for  campaigning  purposes.  It 
is  true  that  they  use  much  more  money  in  conse- 
quence, but  in  many  cases  it  is  essential  that  an 
army  should  have  that  freedom  from  red  tape  which 
is  enjoyed  by  the  British. 

In  South  Africa  every  oflficer  who  has  any  occa- 
sion to  use  money  is  provided  with  a  government 
check-book;  when  he  wishes  to  buy  stock,  pro- 
visions, or  forage  he  appraises  the  value  himself  and 
gives  a  check  for  the  amount,  or  sometimes  pays  in 
gold  on  the  spot.  The  British  army,  in  consequence, 
pays  the  top  price  for  everything;  but,  as  they  wish 
to  conciliate  the  people  as  much  as  possible,  it  is 
a  very  good  policy. 

On  the  contrary,  when  an  American  officer  wishes 
28 


The   New    Soldier   and    His    Equipment 

to  buy  anything  for  the  government,  he  is  obHged 
to  have  its  value  decided  upon  by  a  board,  and 
then  the  payment  is  made  through  the  tortuous 
channels  of  the  paymaster's  department.  Innu- 
merable vouchers,  receipts,  affidavits,  and  money 
orders  pass  back  and  forth  before  the  party  who  is 
selling  receives  the  amount  due  him. 

The  right  system  is  a  mean  between  these  two 
extremes;  for  the  English  method  is  as  much  too 
loose  as  ours  is  too  stringent.  The  British  govern- 
ment pays  for  its  method  every  month  thousands 
of  pounds  more  than  necessary.  I  watched  a  re- 
mount officer  buy  horses  in  Pretoria,  and  the  prices 
he  paid  were  staggering.  The  animals  had  been 
seized  by  the  government  troops,  but  payment  was 
made  to  any  one  who  came  to  the  public  square 
and  laid  claim  to  a  horse.  The  officer  in  charge  of 
tlie  work  happened  to  be  an  exceedingly  good- 
natured  and  agreeable  fellow,  who  said  the  people 
undoubtedly  needed  the  money.  He  asked  each 
person  presenting  a  claim  what  he  thought  his  ani- 
mal worth,  and  almost  invariably  paid  the  full  sum 
demanded,  without  a  word  of  protest.  He  paid  as 
high  as  jC6o  for  animals  not  worth  a  third  of  that 
amount.  It  can  well  be  imagined  that  the  stock 
left  in  any  of  the  towns  by  the  burghers  when  they 
evacuated  was  not  of  a  very  high  order,  as  they  all 
went  away  mounted  in  the  best  possible  style,  and 
in  many  cases  leading  an  extra  horse.  Ever)'  man 
in  the  Boer  army  is  mounted,  and  well  mounted, 
on  native  stock,  that  does  not  need  to  be  fed  with 

29 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


grain  to  be  kept  in  good  condition,  as  the  veldt 
grass  on  which  these  horses  live  and  thrive  is  simi- 
lar to  our  prairie  grass. 

The  equipment  of  the  British  army  can  in  noway 
compare  with  that  of  the  American  soldiers;  it  is 
heavier,  badly  slung,  and  is  far  less  useful.  In  the 
first  place,  the  saddle  used  by  both  the  cavalry  and 
mounted  infantry  is  almost  double  the  weight  of 
the  McClellan  pattern  used  by  our  army.  The 
mounted  infantry  saddle  is  the  flat  seat  known  in 
this  country  as  an  "  English  saddle,"  one  which 
should  be  used  only  in  the  park  or  in  racing.  As  it 
has  no  raised  back  it  affords  no  rest  to  a  man  while 
on  long  rides.  The  cavalry  saddle,  especially  that 
of  the  Lancers,  has  a  slightly  higher  back  and  is 
somewhat  easier  ;  nevertheless,  it  is  much  too  flat 
according  to  the  American  idea.  The  maimer  in 
which  the  mounted  infantrymen  ride  is  enough  to 
show  that  the  saddle  is  a  very  bad  one  for  use  in 
the  field,  for  the  rider  has  no  command  over  his 
mount  and  no  security  of  his  seat;  he  keeps  it 
merely  on  the  sufferance  of  a  good-natured  horse. 

The  Canadian  troops  in  South  Africa  created 
much  comment  because  of  their  saddles,  for  the 
eastern  contingent  had  the  United  States  army 
McClellan  saddle,  and  the  western  force  rode  the 
regular  Montana  "  cowboy  saddle."  About  two 
thousand  McClellan  saddles  had  been  condemned 
by  our  government  inspectors  on  account  of  being 
a  fraction  of  an  inch  too  narrow  across  the  withers; 
and  the  Canadian  government,  needing  some  uni- 

30 


The   New    Soldier   and    His   Equipment 

form  saddle  in  a  great  hurry,  bought  them.  They 
were  quite  satisfactory  for  the  Canadians,  for  their 
horses  are  smaller  than  the  American  animals,  and 
the  slight  defect  in  construction  made  no  difference. 
Henceforth,  the  McClellan  saddle  will  be  known  as 
the  "  Canadian  saddle  "  in  England. 

The  Boers  equipped  themselves  fully  in  saddles, 
bridles,  blankets,  and  all  other  horse  equipment 
from  the  stock  they  captured.  There  was  not  a  sad- 
dle to  be  seen  that  did  not  come  from  the  English 
ordnance  stores,  although  in  many  cases  the  rider 
cut  off  all  the  extra  flaps  and  threw  away  the  heavy 
bags  and  pouches,  which  encumber  the  horse  and 
are  of  no  use. 

The  cavalry  equipment  of  the  American  army 
weighs  a  total  of  ninety-eight  pounds,  including 
carbine  and  sabre;  while  that  of  the  English  service 
is  at  least  fifty  or  sixty  pounds  more.  There  is  one 
thing,  however,  in  which  their  outfit  is  superior  to 
ours — their  saddles  are  built  of  fair  leather.  A 
black  saddle  is  much  harder  to  keep  in  good  con- 
dition, and  does  not  continue  to  look  well  nearly  so 
long  after  it  has  been  cleaned  as  does  the  brown 
leather.  Our  ordnance  department  is  experiment- 
ing with  fair  leather  equipments,  and  many  have 
already  been  issued.  Our  cavalrymen  hope  that 
soon  there  will  be  no  black  saddles  left  in  service. 

The  British  infantry  equipment  is  unpractical  to 
an  amazing  degree ;  it  is  heavy  and  cumbersome,  and 
includes  accouterments  that  are  needless.  There  is 
a  heavy  set  of  straps  and  cross-belts,  suggesting  the 

31 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


harness  of  a  dray-horse,  and  all  that  this  antique 
framework  is  useful  for  is  to  hold  up  the  blanket, 
cartridge-box,  and  bayonet  scabbard.  The  cart- 
ridge-boxes are  as  heavy  as  the  cartridges  them- 
selves. I  had  a  full  kit  such  as  is  used  in  the 
American  army,  which  I  displayed  one  day  to  an 
ofificer  of  General  French's  staff.     He  remarked: 

"  Oh,  well,  we  shall  have  that  some  day.  In  about 
thirty  years,  when  you  have  invented  something 
much  better,  our  War  Ofhce  will  adopt  something 
like  this." 

Wide  admiration  was  expressed  for  my  American 
rubber  poncho  blanket  with  its  hole  for  the  head, 
which  adapts  it  for  use  as  a  coat,  for  the  British 
have  nothing  like  that.  I  saw  the  poor  Tommies 
sleeping  out,  night  after  night,  in  a  cold,  pouring 
rain,  with  nothing  over  them  but  a  woolen  blanket. 
They  have  no  field  protection  like  our  shelter  tent 
to  shield  them  from  the  weather,  and  it  is  surpris- 
ing that  there  has  been  so  little  fever. 

Our  knapsack,  also,  is  greatly  superior  to  the 
British  haversack  bag,  which  must  be  carried  in  the 
hand  when  the  troops  are  changing  quarters  or  are 
embarking  for  a  voyage.  The  knapsack  is  a  light 
trunk,  which  will  hold  everything  that  a  man  needs 
for  many  weeks. 

It  is  doubtful  if  the  helmet  sees  the  light  of  an- 
other campaign,  for  it  has  been  found  to  be  more 
objectionable  than  ever  when  there  is  fighting  to  be 
done.  The  front  visor  is  so  long  that  it  prevents 
the  men  from  sighting  their  rifles,  and  if  it  is  shoved 

32 


A  company  of  the  Eighth  U.  S.  Injantry  in  the 
Jielci,  Lieutenant  M.  B.  Stuart. 


A  review  of  the  Life  Guards  in  London. 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


back,  the  back  visor  strikes  the  shoulders  and  the 
helmet  falls  off.  The  soldier  cannot  keep  it  on 
his  head  when  he  is  sleeping;  he  might  as  well  go 
to  war  in  an  opera-hat.  The  felt  field-hat  has  been 
adopted  by  nearly  all  the  colonials  and  by  some  of 
the  volunteers  from  England;  and  although  the 
English  have  a  difficult  task  to  overcome  the  tradi- 
tion attached  to  anything  that  has  become  a  part  of 
the  service,  and  although  the  helmet  gives  the  men 
a  uniform  and  very  military  appearance,  its  event- 
ual disappearance  is  inevitable. 

There  was  a  time  when  we  learned  much  from 
England  regarding  military  affairs,  but  that  period 
has  passed,  and  it  would  be  to  her  conspicuous  ad- 
vantage to  copy  our  excellent  field  equipment,  as 
well  as  several  other  things. 

I  cannot- say  that  I  fully  share  the  sentiment 
which  reproaches  the  British  government  for  the 
continued  use  of  "  dum-dum  "  bullets.  At  the 
Peace  Conference  at  The  Hague  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  the  British  representatives  maintained 
the  privilege; ;pf  shooting  with  these  bullets  when 
the  War  Office  so  chose,  against  the  protest  of  the 
other  powers;  and  the  Americans  in  this  dispute 
stood  with  the  British.  Terrible  as  is  their  wound 
as  compared  with  the  neat,  needle-like  thrust  of  the 
Mauser  bullet,  for  instance,  in  the  long  run  they 
are  the  more  merciful. 

In  South  Africa  both  sides  used  these  tearing 
projectiles  to  some  extent,  although  they  were  not 
supposed   to  be  issued.     I  saw  some  British  pris- 

34 


The   New    Soldier   and    His    Equipment 

oners  brought  into  Pretoria  who  had  a  lot  of  "  Mark 
IV"  ammunition,  which  is  the  deadliest  "dum- 
dum "  made.  The  steel  jacket  of  the  bullet  is  split 
at  the  sides  and  at  the  nose,  and  when  it  strikes  a 
body,  these  sides  of  the  jacket  curl  outward  with 
a  ghastly  result.  It  was  afterwards  stated  by  the 
British  authorities  that  this  "  Mark  IV"  ammuni- 
tion had  been  issued  at  Natal  by  mistake,  as  the 
British  contest  had  always  been  that  these  bullets 
were  intended  solely  for  those  savage  foes  who  did 
not  mind  perforation  with  the  clean  little  modern 
bullet. 

The  Boers,  on  their  side,  had  considerable  am- 
munition known  as  the  "  blue-nose  bullet."  This 
projectile  has  no  jacket  at  all  over  its  leaden  nose, 
which  spreads  out  like  a  mushroom  on  reaching  its 
target.  The  use  of  this  was  also  the  result  of  a  mis- 
take in  issuance;  it  had  been  bought  by  the  Trans- 
vaal government  long  before  war  was  thought  of, 
and  was  intended  for  sporting  use,  since  the  regular 
steel-jacket  bullet  would  not  stop  big  game.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  in  many  instances  the  burghers 
turned  their  regular  jacket  bullets  into  "  dum- 
dums "  by  simply  scraping  off  the  steel  at  the  nose, 
leaving  the  lead  to  flatten  as  it  struck;  when  they 
had  no  file  for  this,  they  rubbed  them  against  a 
rock. 

The  humane  theory  of  the  small  calibre  steel  bul- 
let is  that  when  it  strikes,  unless  it  hits  a  vital  spot, 
it  does  not  mangle,  but  simply  puts  a  man  out  of 
action,  and   that   two  more  men   take  him  to  the 

35 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


rear,  thus  putting  three  out  of  action.  But  the 
theory  does  not  work;  for  now  that  the  magazine 
gun  has  multiplied  every  man  in  the  trenches  ten 
or  twenty  fold,  no  erect  man  of  the  attacking  force 
can  be  spared  to  care  for  wounded  comrades;  con- 
sequently the  man  who  falls  is  left  where  he  is ;  no 
one  can  pay  the  slightest  attention  to  him  when 
every  minute  is  infinitely  precious  and  every  stalk- 
ing man  is  needed  for  the  final  instant.  On  the 
other  hand,  many  of  the  wounds  thus  made  are  so 
slight  that,  if  promptly  cared  for  after  the  battle, 
the  wounded  men  are  able  in  a  few  days  to  be  back 
with  their  regiments. 

The  little  bullet  darts  through  the  soft  part  of  leg 
or  arm  or  body  like  a  sewing-machine  needle,  and  if 
a  vital  spot  is  not  struck,  and  if  no  bones  are  shat- 
tered, the  flesh  closes  up  with  beautiful  repair;  and 
if  antisepticized  the  recovery  is  surprisingly  quick. 
The  prompt  reappearance  of  these  many  slightly 
wounded  men  on  the  firing  line  is  equivalent  to  a 
perpetual  reenforcement;  thus  the  campaign  is  pro- 
longed indefinitely. 

The  humane  sentiment  is  neutral  as  to  the  victory 
of  either  side  in  wars  between  civilized  armies,  and 
prays  only  that  the  slaughter  and  destruction  may 
cease  as  soon  as  possible.  If  in  the  early  weeks  of 
the  South  African  struggle  each  man  hit  had  been 
wholly  disabled,  if  not  killed  outright,  it  is  incon- 
ceivable that  the  British  people  would  have  per- 
mitted the  war  to  go  on.  If  in  the  Philippines  each 
native  struck  by  an  American  bullet  had  been  un- 

36 


The   New    Soldier   and    His   Equipment 

able  to  recover  and  soon  appear  in  arms  again,  that 
unhappy  struggle  would  have  ended  long  ago. 
Consequently,  there  is  much  to  be  considered  be- 
fore making  a  wholesale  condemnation  of  the 
"  dum-dum."  War  cannot  be  anything  but  the 
most  infernal  thing  on  earth,  and  the  sooner  a  cam- 
paign is  over  the  better.  We  have  to  remind  our- 
selves of  the  language  of  one  of  the  generals  in  the 
Civil  War  to  his  ofificers:  "  Gentlemen,  war  means 
fight,  and  fight  means  kill ;  therefore  the  more  you 
kill  in  any  battle  the  sooner  the  misery  of  the  war 
will  end." 


37 


CHAPTER    IT. 

British  and  American  Recruits 

HE  British  soldier  as  he  ap- 
pears ill  the  streets  of  Lon- 
don is  the  finest  thing  to 
look  at  in  the  military  world. 
Although  to  the  unused  Amer- 
ican eye  most  of  these  beings 
seem  to  be  a  little  theatric  in 
appearance,  they  are  all  that 
could  be  desired  in  uniform, 
build,  and  military  bearing. 
In  a  nation  of  big  men  they 
have  been  chosen  primarily 
for  their  height  and  their 
chest  measurement,  and  they 
can  scarcely  be  criticised  for 
the  somewhat  exaggerated 
jauntiness  which  betrays  a 
consciousness  of  their  supe- 
rior looks. 

On  the  other  hand,  the 
American  soldier  as  he  is 
seen  in  the  streets  of  a  garrison  city  is  not  marked 
by  either  self-consciousness  or  noticeable  bigness. 

38 


Horse  Guard  on  duty  at 
headquarters,  London. 


British   and   American   Recruits 

His  uniform  is  not  showy,  although  it  fits  well,  and 
the  man  inside  of  it  is  well  set  up ;  he  is  wiry,  spry, 
and  although  of  soldierly  bearing,  is  more  to  be 
remarked  for  his  alertness  of  movement.  You  would 
never  think  of  calling  him  a  magnificent  creature; 
the  keen  face  under  the  visored  cap  might  be  that 
of  a  young  mechanic,  business  man,  or  student  who 
had  learned  how  to  wear  a  uniform  easily. 

The  recruit  of  the  British  army  is  chosen  on  phys- 
ical grounds,  and  his  obvious  proportions  seem  to 
have  been  particularly  desired.  The  American  sol- 
dier, as  we  see  him,  talk  with  him,  and  hear  what 
his  oflficers  have  to  say  of  him,  seems  to  have  ob- 
tained his  place  because  he  is  a  good  all-around 
man,  with  no  more  muscle  than  intelligence,  and 
with  soundness  of  teeth  considered  as  important  as 
extensiveness  of  height. 

The  recruiting  of  the  British  army  is  admirably 
managed  by  some  of  the  cleverest  sergeants  in  the 
service.  They  must  be  able  to  tell  at  a  glance 
whether  an  applicant  is  likely  to  pass  an  examina- 
tion, and  then  they  must  paint  the  glories  and  pos- 
sibilities of  a  soldier's  life  in  sufficiently  alluring 
colors  to  persuade  the  prospective  recruit  to  accept 
the  "  King's  shilling." 

The  recruiting  of  the  British  army  is  always  an 
interesting  feature  of  the  military  life  of  London, 
and  one  may  see  it  any  week-day  morning  under 
the  walls  of  the  gallery  opposite  the  church  of  St.- 
Martin's-in-the-Fields.  This  church  is  on  the  upper 
edge  of  Trafalgar  Square,  in  the  busiest  part  of  the 

39 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


city,  and  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  work 
goes  on  all  day.  The  various  branches  of  the  ser- 
vice place  signboards  on  the  fence  of  the  gallery 
court,  upon  which  are  hung  bills  that  set  forth  in 
glowing  language  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by 
enlisting  in  this  or  that  service;  also  stating  the  re- 
quirements, pay,  and  allowances.  All  these  boards 
are  hung  side  by  side,  and  there  is  an  unwritten 
law  that  should  a  man  be  reading  or  looking  at  one 
board,  the  sergeant  representing  another  branch  of 
the  service,  or  another  regiment,  is  not  permitted  to 
speak  to  him  until  he  has  passed  on.  As  soon  as 
he  has  left  the  board,  any  of  the  recruiting  officers 
is  at  liberty  to  speak  to  him. 

There  are  from  ten  to  twenty  non-commissioned 
officers  on  duty  at  this  place  every  morning;  they 
are  the  finest  types  of  men  in  the  British  service, 
and  always  appear  in  their  best  uniforms.  They 
nearly  all  have  the  rank  of  sergeant-major,  conse- 
quently their  uniforms  glitter  with  gold  lace  and 
attract  the  youth  who  have  an  eye  for  the  military. 
One  old  sergeant-major  is  a  particularly  conspicu- 
ous character,  being  a  veteran  of  the  Crimea.  He 
is  a  very  old  man,  has  been  seen  at  this  same  spot, 
on  the  same  service,  for  many  years,  and  has  become 
as  well  known  to  the  Londoner  as  the  very  build- 
ings themselves.  His  hair  and  beard  are  snow- 
white,  and  the  years  of  campaigning  have  left  their 
mark  on  his  face;  but  his  step  is  as  youthful  and 
elastic  as  that  of  any  of  the  younger  men  on  the 
same   duty,    and  on  his  breast  are  the  medals  of 

40 


British    and    American    Recruits 


Possible  candidates. 


Persuasion  by  sergeant-major . 


many  wars,  most  of  them  being  ribbons  one  never 
sees  except  at  Chelsea.  He  is  the  most  energetic 
man  on  the  recruiting  detail,  and  he  very  seldom 
makes  an  error  as  to  the  eligibility  of  an  applicant. 
All  day  long  the  passers-by  are  scanned  by  these 
sharp  old  soldiers,  and  are  invited  to  join  the  forces 
of  the  empire  and  attain  the  glory  that,  according 
to  the  "sar'-major, "  is  sure  to  be  his  portion.  The 
dignity  with  which  the  recruiting  is  done  is  very 
pleasing,  for  these  officers,  uncommissioned  though 
they  be,  wear  their  uniforms  with  the  grace  of  a 
major-general.  When  they  approach  a  man,  they 
do  so  with  an  air  of  authority,  in  a  straightforward 
manner,  and  although  they  depict  the  attractions 
of  the  service  beguilingly,  they  seldom  attempt  to 

41 


Blue   Shirt   and    Khaki 


gain  a  recruit  against  his  will.  Most  of  those  who 
loiter  about  the  boards  come  with  their  minds  made 
up  to  enlist,  and  do  not  need  any  great  amount  of 
persuasion.  The  grade  of  recruits  taken  in  this 
manner  is  said  to  be  rather  low,  as  they  are  gener- 
ally of  the  class  that  does  not  like  to  work,  and  has 
a  mistaken  idea  that  a  soldier  has  an  easy  life. 

Another  method  of  recruiting  the  British  army 
is  by"  recruiting  marches"  through  the  rural  dis- 
tricts. With  their  most  attractive  uniforms,  colors 
flying,  and  music  piping,  a  battalion  makes  the 
entry  into  a  town  on  their  march  in  such  engaging 
style  that  many  of  the  youths  of  the  place  are  sure 
to  cast  their  lot  with  the  army  on  the  impulse  of 
the  moment;  and  in  this  way  some  of  the  best  men 
are  found,  as  in  Great  Britain  the  country  lad  seems 
to  make  the  best  soldier. 

In  the  United  States  it  has  not  been  found  neces- 
sary to  resort  to  these  expedients  to  gain  recruits. 
The  recruiting  offices  in  time  of  peace  show  a  small 
but  steady  stream  of  callers;  they  are  not  from  the 
degraded  classes,  nor  are  they  ignorant  men  ;  they 
are  young  men  of  various  social  grades  who,  in 
many  cases,  have  been  advised  by  older  men  to 
enter  the  army,  or  who  think  they  see  in  its  dis- 
cipline, regularity  of  life,  and  opportunity  for  pro- 
motion a  promising  opening  for  three  years  of 
trial. 

The  rigidity  of  the  examinations  is  in  itself  an 
attraction  to  the  young  American.  There  is  no 
other  line  of  work   for  which  he  must  submit  to 

42 


British    and    American    Recruits 

such  searching  competitive  tests  as  he  finds  in  the 
recruiting  office.  Physically  he  must  be  perfect ; 
unsoundness  of  eye,  ear,  lung,  heart,  Hver,  skin, 
limbs,  extremities,  or  any  other  defect,  will  debar 
him  no  less  than  would  his  inability  to  read  and 
write. 

There  is  also  in  the  United  States  a  continual 
fostering  of  the  military  spirit  among  the  youth  by 
means  of  the  cadet  corps  in  the  public  and  private 
schools.  Again,  the  fact  that  so  many  boys  in 
America  are  taught  to  ride  and  shoot  has  its  natural 
influence  in  leading  large  numbers  of  them  to  think 
of  the  army.  The  patriotic  instruction  and  the 
devotion  to  the  flag  which  are  now  so  prominent  a 
feature  in  the  public  schools,  have  also  an  influence 
in  turning  the  minds  of  many  young  men  to  the 
national  service. 

Two  exceedingly  strong  attractions  which  the 
American  army  presents,  and  which  are  lacking  in 
the  British  army,  are  the  inducements  of  good  pay 
and  of  promotion.  The  English  recruit  enlists  for 
a  period  of  twelve  years,  without  the  opportunity 
of  ever  becoming  more  than  a  non-commissioned 
officer,  and  for  the  sum  of  twenty-four  cents  a  day; 
while  the  American  enlists  for  three  years,  with  the 
possibility  of  becoming  lieutenant-general  com- 
manding the  army,  and  for  pay  which,  including 
ration  and  clothing  allowance,  a  portion  of  which 
thrifty  men  can  commute  into  cash,  amounts  to  at 
least  one  dollar  a  day,  and  from  that  up  to  three 
dollars  and  a  half  a  day,  together  with  twenty  per 

43 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


cent,  increase  on  all  pay  for  active  service.  The 
American  government  provides  that  the  paymaster 
shall  take  charge  of  any  funds  that  the  men  do  not 
wish  to  draw,  and  it  pays  a  high  rate  of  interest  on 
these  deposits.  Thus,  large  numbers  of  our  men 
have  saved  several  thousand  dollars  out  of  their  pay, 
and  yet  have  lived  well  and  had  money  to  spend  all 
the  time. 

The  chief  spur,  however,  that  acts  on  the  enlisted 
man  in  the  army  of  the  United  States  is  not  the 
money,  but  the  possibility  that  some  day  he  may 
become  an  officer.  To  commission  an  officer  from 
the  ranks  in  the  British  army  is  almost  unheard  of; 
while,  on  the  contrary,  a  large  number  of  the  Ameri- 
can non-commissioned  officers  and  men  receive  their 
straps  every  year.  The  one  thing  that  I  could 
never  make  an  English  officer  understand  was  that 
it  is  possible  for  our  government  to  commission 
men  from  the  ranks.  They  could  appreciate  how 
these  men  might  be  fully  qualified  as  to  their  mili- 
tary knowledge,  but  they  could  not  comprehend 
how  it  would  be  possible  for  the  West  Pointer  to 
associate  with  them  or  to  meet  them  on  an  equal 
footing  in  society.  They  could  not  understand 
that  many  of  the  men  in  the  ranks  are  in  the  same 
station  in  life  as  are  the  West  Point  graduates. 
That  social  possibility  is  the  result  of  different  con- 
ditions. Many  officers'  sons  who  wish  to  follow  in 
the  footsteps  of  their  fathers  are  not  fortunate 
enough  to  obtain  an  appointment  to  the  Academy ; 
these  boys  always  enlist,  and,  to  the  credit  of  our 

44 


British    and    American    Recruits 


British  recruits  at  fencing  practice. 

government,  they  rarely  fail  to  get  a  commission  if 
they  can  qualify  in  the  examinations. 

Moreover,  the  breeding  as  well  as  the  intelli- 
gence of  many  of  the  men  accepted  for  enlistment 
is  of  the  same  kind  that  is  required  of  the  appli- 
cants at  West  Point.  In  an  army  where  every  re- 
cruit must  be  able  at  least  to  read  and  write,  it  is 
impossible  to  find,  even  among  the  colored  troops, 
any  of  that  low-bred  class  of  men  which  exists  in 
large  numbers  in  the  British  army.     Before  the  war 


British  recruits  at  bayonet  practia 
45 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


with  Spain,  when  the  army  was  on  a  peace  footing, 
there  were  about  five  appHcants  for  every  vacancy; 
consequently  the  recruiting  ofificer  could  choose 
with  care,  and  an  exceptionally  high  class  of  men 
entered  the  regular  army. 

It  is  a  rare  circumstance  that  puts  a  gentle-born 
Englishman  into  the  ranks,  and  the  discredit  he 
suffers  for  enlisting  is  deep  indeed;  for  soldiers  and 
servants  in  England  stand  on  the  same  footing.  In 
the  continental  nations  of  Europe  soldiering,  while 
it  is  disliked,  is  considered  as  a  matter  of  course, 
because  it  is  compulsory  upon  all  men  to  serve. 
But  in  England,  where  the  service  is  voluntary,  the 
private  rank  is  not  a  nice  place  for  the  upper  classes. 

In  New  York,  in  Boston,  in  Chicago,  it  is  not  im- 
possible to  see  the  private's  blouse  at  a  tea  function 
or  across  the  table  at  dinner,  in  the  most  refined 
society;  after  the  instant's  surprise  at  seeing  the 
insignia  of  the  common  soldier,  it  is  remembered 
that  he  is  present  in  his  own  right,  irrespective  of 
uniform,  and  he  is  admired  for  his  unostentatious 
service  of  the  flag. 

Once  a  charming  Larchmont  belle  told  me,  with 
the  greatest  pride,  that  she  had  a  brother  who  was 
a  soldier,  and  she  showed  me  his  picture.  There 
were  no  straps  on  the  shoulders,  and  the  collar  of 
his  blouse  was  turned  down. 

"  He  is  a  private  in  the  Seventh  Artillery,"  she 
said;  "  regulars,  you  know  ;  and  some  day  he  will 
be  an  officer." 

"Some  day  ...  an  ofificer "  tells  the  whole 
46 


British    and   American    Recruits 

story;  it  indicates  one  of  the  vital  differences  be- 
tween the  British  and  the  American  soldier.  When 
the  former  enlists  in  the  army,  he  knows  he  will 
never  get  beyond  a  "non-com.;"  while  many  of 
those  who  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  United  States 
forces,  do  so  with  the  anticipation  that  eventually 
they  may  hold  the  President's  commission. 

■  At  the  outbreak  of  the  South  African  War  I  met 
a  young  Englishman  in  London  who  was  bubbling 
over  with  patriotic  enthusiasm,  and  whose  fixed 
idea  was  to  go  to  the  war,  and  to  go  quickly  before 
it  was  over;  but  he  told  me  that  he  had  almost 
given  up  all  hope  of  getting  there,  as  he  had  ex- 
hausted every  possible  means  of  accomplishing  his 
desire.  He  had  been  to  the  War  Oflfice  to  see  every 
one,  from  Sir  Evelyn  Wood  down ;  and  although  he 
was  a  relative  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  and 
swung  a  great  deal  of  influence,  he  could  not  make 
it;  and  yet  he  said  that  he  "  simply  must  go." 

"If  you  really  want  to  go  so  much,  why  do  you 
not  enlist  ?  "   I  asked. 

"What!  go  as  a  Tommy?"  he  exclaimed; 
"  why,  I  could  not  do  that."  And,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  he  could  not,  since  the  feeling  against  such  a 
course  is  so  strong  that  even  in  time  of  war  it  would 
not  be  countenanced  by  his  social  judges.  I  saw  him 
again  in  the  later  months  of  the  war,  and  he  had  at- 
tained his  desire  by  going  to  the  Cape  on  his  own 
responsibility  and  recruiting  a  troop  of  colonials, 
afterwards  receiving  a  commission  to  command  it. 

There  are  instances  where  men  of  social  standing 
47 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


have  enlisted  in  the  British  army,  but  they  are  very 
rare  in  comparison  with  those  of  the  same  class  who 
answered  the  President's  call  to  arms  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war  with  Spain ;  men  who  joined  not 
only  the  volunteer  branches  of  the  American  army, 
but  who  enlisted  in  large  number  as  privates  in  the 
regular  service. 

General  Hector  Macdonald  is  an  interesting  ex- 
ception in  the  British  system.  He  rose  from  the 
ranks,  and  is  to-day  one  of  the  best  officers  of  the 
generals'  staff,  and  is  loved,  feared,  and  respected 
by  his  men. 

For  these  various  reasons  it  is  easy  to  see  why 
the  personnel  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  American 
army  is  much  higher  than  that  of  the  British.  This 
is  conspicuously  true  in  the  matter  of  mental  attain- 
ments. In  our  army  it  is  rare  to  find  a  man  who  is 
not  fairly  well  educated,  while  the  majority  of  the 
men  in  the  ranks  are  considerably  enlightened. 
There  is  not  one  illiterate  man  in  the  whole  enlisted 
force. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  British  army  is  dismally 
low  in  its  standard  of  literacy.  In  the  official  re- 
port published  in  1899,  the  illiterateness  of  the  re- 
cruits receives  scathing  comment;  only  forty-five  in 
one  thousand  were  fairly  educated;  eighteen  per 
cent,  were  utterly  illiterate. 

The  same  attractions  tend  to  secure  for  the 
American  army  a  larger  proportion  of  healthy  ap- 
plicants than  apply  for  admission  in  the  British 
service.     The    official    report   which    I    have    just 

48 


British   and   American   Recruits 

quoted  also  states  that  thirty-five  per  cent,  of  all 
applicants  for  enlistment  in  the  British  army  have 
to  be  rejected  for  physical  disability. 

In  treating  this  subject  before  the  United  Service 
Institution  in  London,  in  1899,  Colonel  Douglas,  of 
the  Royal  service,  described  the  recruits  from  the 
north,  or  country  districts,  as  "  sallow,  downcast, 
nondescript  youths,  mostly  artisans."  Regarding 
the  recruits  in  general,  he  said:  "It  is  significant 
that  a  good  set  of  teeth  is  rare,  except  among  the 
agricultural  recruits.  The  old  recruiting  sergeant 
would  have  laughed  at  the  recruits  of  to-day;  the 
army  of  the  past  had  in  it  many  blackguards,  but 
few  degenerates.  These  are  depressing  conclusions, 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  refers  to  our 
peace  army,  which  is  recruited  from  the  half-starved 
offscourings  of  the  streets.  The  physique  of  the 
men  who  are  offering  themselves  to-day,  in  time  of 
war,  is  very  different  from  this.  There  are  shoals 
of  Englishmen  who  cannot  stand  the  drudgery  and 
discipline  of  the  ranks  in  time  of  peace,  but  who 
flock  to  the  standard  as  soon  as  there  is  a  chance  of 
fighting.  The  recruiting  sergeants  say  that  nearly 
all  of  the  material  they  are  getting  at  present  is  of 
a  better  class.  These  men  want  to  fight  for  the 
love  of  fighting,  and  not  as  a  refuge  from  starva- 
tion. A  few  weeks  of  training  licks  them  into 
shape.  As  long  as  the  outbreak  of  war  affords  such 
a  stimulus  to  recruiting  as  this,  there  is  no  need  to 
despair  of  the  British  race." 

But  as  conditions  now  exist  in  both  countries, 
4  49 


Blue    Shirt   and   Khaki 


England  has  much  more  difficulty  in  filling  her 
ranks  in  time  of  peace  than  is  encountered  here. 
Her  army  is  vastly  larger  than  ours,  and  its  attrac- 
tions are  vastly  inferior.  There  is,  accordingly,  no 
ground  for  surprise  that  both  in  mental  attainments 
and  soundness  of  body  the  American  recruit  is  meas- 
ured by  a  higher  standard;  and  it  is  not  strange 
that  the  British  government  has  such  trouble  in 
persuading  enough  men  to  enter  the  ranks  that 
almost  any  sort  of  able-bodied  man  would  be  ac- 
cepted. Most  of  the  field  musicians  of  the  British 
regiments  are  mere  boys,  twelve  to  fifteen  years  of 
age;  these  youth  are  enlisted  regularly  into  the 
army.  The  American  forces  employ  grown  men  for 
the  same  service,  but  the  difficulty  in  obtaining  men 
makes  such  a  force  impossible  in  England. 

Once  a  man  has  been  enlisted,  however,  in  the 
British  army,  no  pains  are  spared  to  make  him  as 
good  as  the  best  of  soldiers — not  only  in  a  physical 
sense,  but  also  in  the  training  of  his  brains. 

As  soon  as  the  British  recruit  is  accepted  he  is 
turned  over  to  the  drill  sergeant,  who  proceeds  to 
make  a  soldier  of  him ;  and  in  all  the  world  no  bet- 
ter man  exists  than  the  British  drill  sergeant  for 
the  special  line  of  duty  of  whipping  recruits  into 
shape.  He  does  nothing  else,  and  consequently 
becomes  very  proficient  at  his  calling.  These  drill 
masters  are  all  alike;  to  see  one  is  to  see  all.  He 
is  a  species  of  soldier  by  himself,  and  there  is  noth- 
ing like  him  that  I  have  ever  seen.  He  does  for 
the  British  army  the  work  that  is  done  by  the  sub- 

50 


British   and   American    Recruits 

altern  officer  of  the  American  army.     He  is  by  no 
means  gentle,  but  he  is  not  unnecessarily  severe, 


A    musician  of  the  Gordon   Highlanders^   age, 

seventeen. 

A    Boer  fighting  "  man"  age,  twelve.       Twice 

distinguished  /or  bravery  in  action.     He  fought 

at  Spion  Kop,  Colenso,  Dundee,  and  Ladysmith. 


as  is  the  German  or  French  drill  master;  he  merely 
understands  his  men  better  than  any  other  master, 
and  consequently  gets  better  results  from  them  in 


51 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


a  shorter  space  of  time.  He  takes  a  slouching 
youth,  of  slovenly  gait,  from  Whitechapel,  and  in 
an  incredibly  short  time  turns  him  out  into  Hyde 
Park  a  dashing  young  soldier,  or  sends  him  to  the 
Cape  in  khaki,  as  willing  a  fighter  as  can  be  found. 

I  have  seen  a  German  drill  master  strike  a  recruit 
for  some  trifling  mistake  or  inattention;  I  have 
heard  a  Frenchman  curse  his  squad  by  all  the  saints 
in  the  calendar;  but  I  know  of  nothing  half  so  effec- 
tive as  the  quiet  sarcasm  that  the  English  or  Irish 
drill  sergeant  can  command  when  he  is  completely 
out  of  patience  with  an  awkward  "  rookie";  it  is 
more  deadly  than  oaths  or  blows;  it  always  accom- 
plishes the  end.  Up  to  the  present,  the  British 
army  has  been  almost  built,  trained,  and  run  by 
non-commissioned  officers,  many  of  whom  are  supe- 
rior to  the  officers  over  them  in  all  but  birth  and 
breeding.  These  rankers  are  capable  of  command- 
ing in  so  far  as  capability  depends  upon  understand- 
ing every  detail  of  their  profession. 

The  majority  of  the  English  recruits  are  sent  to 
the  great  camp  at  Aldershot,  which  is  a  camp  only 
in  name ;  for  in  reality  it  is  a  superb  expanse  of  land, 
covered  with  perfectly  appointed  barracks  and  well- 
laid  parades.  At  this  training  station  the  work  of 
the  young  soldier  begins  in  earnest,  and  for  the 
better  part  of  four  months  he  is  drilled,  trained,  and 
instructed  in  all  branches  of  soldiering.  The  most 
interesting  part  of  his  work  is  that  done  in  the  gym- 
nasium. The  average  English  recruit  does  not  carry 
himself  in  the  manner  of  a  soldier  to  the  degree  that 

52 


British   and   American   Recruits 

an  untrained  American  does,  so  that  a  more  rigid 
training  than  in  the  United  States  is  necessary. 
Moreover,  the  idea  of  the  proper  carriage  of  a  sol- 
dier is  so  vastly  different  in  the  two  countries  that 
it  is  difificult  to  draw  a  comparison  which  will  be 
understood  by  one  who  is  not  familiar  with  both 
armies.  In  the  British  army  the  old-time  conven- 
tional idea  of  soldierly  appearance  still  dominates  the 
discipline;  in  the  American  army  this  idea  is  not  ab- 
sent, and  I  hope  it  may  never  depart;  but  neverthe- 
less, the  prevailing  aim  is  to  subordinate  everything 
to  simple  effectiveness.  Broadly  speaking,  there- 
fore, one  is  tempted  to  say  that  the  British  soldier 
is  trained  for  show,  while  the  American  is  trained 
for  comfort,  for  work,  and  for  general  usefulness. 

The  gymnasium  at  Aldershot  is  the  best-equipped 
establishment  of  its  kind  that  I  have  ever  seen ; 
there  is  nothing  lacking  that  could  add  to  the  phys- 
ical training  of  the  recruits  sent  there  for  their  pre- 
liminary teaching.  For  one  hundred  and  ten  days 
each  recruit  has  one  hour  a  day  devoted  exclusively 
to  athletics,  and  in  that  time  he  is  made  to  exercise 
in  walking,  running,  climbing,  boxing,  fencing,  and 
is  instructed  in  the  use  of  the  bayonet.  The  men 
scale  high  walls  and  clamber  over  lofty  scaffolding  at 
double  time;  they  go  up  and  down  swinging  ladders 
and  hanging  ropes. 

The  headquarters  gymnasium  is  just  outside  of 
the  little  town  of  Aldershot,  among  the  miles  of 
barracks  that  quarter  so  many  thousands  of  the 
British  army. 

53 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


It  is  a  large  brick  building,  recently  put  up,  and 
contains  every  appliance  known  to  athletic  training, 
most  of  the  apparatus  having  been  imported  from 
New  York.  The  interior  is  bright  and  airy,  hand- 
somely decorated  with  flags,  stands  of  arms,  and 
trophies,  making  an  attractive  room  in  which  to 
work.  Just  at  the  left  is  a  smaller  building  for  in- 
struction in  the  use  of  the  sabre  and  foil.  Sur- 
rounding the  buildings  are  large  fields  for  out-of- 
door  exercise,  one  side  being  a  turf  parade  for 
walking,  running,  jumping,  and  the  many  drills  in 
the  use  of  the  arms  and  legs.  When  the  weather 
permits,  the  classes  in  bayonet,  single-stick,  and 
dumb-bells  are  taken  to  this  field.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  buildings  are  all  sorts  of  stationary  ap- 
paratus similar  to  that  inside;  on  that  side  also 
there  are  walls  to  scale,  heights  to  climb,  besides 
the  ordinary  bars  and  ladders.  The  best  apparatus 
that  the  recruits  use  is  a  great  frame  that  looks  as  if 
some  one  had  started  to  build  a  house,  and  dropped 
the  work  as  soon  as  the  scaffolding  had  been  fin- 
ished. It  is  a  square  framework  about  fifty  feet 
high  and  forty  feet  wide ;  from  it  hang  ropes,  lad- 
ders, poles,  sliding-boards,  and  all  kinds  of  devices 
by  which  ascent  and  descent  can  be  made.  The 
apparatus  is  of  great  value  in  training  the  eye  as 
well  as  the  muscle,  for  the  recruits  are  put  over  it 
at  double  time,  and  the  slightest  false  step  would 
mean  a  bad  fall  and  broken  bones.  It  was  the  in- 
vention of  Colonel  the  Hon.  J.  S.  Napier,  who  has 
been  in  command  at  the  gymnasium  for  some  time, 

54 


1.  Colonel  Napier  s  J raiite  for  recruit-drill  at  Aldcrshot. 

2.  One  of  the  exercises  in  British  recruit-drill. 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


and  to  whose  efforts  are  due  the  perfection  of  the 
system  of  training  given,  not  only  to  the  recruits, 
but  also  to  all  officers  and  men  who  care  to  continue 
their  physical  training. 

The  most  useful  drill  given  to  recruits  is  the  use 
of  the  "  shelf,"  This,  as  the  name  indicates,  is  a 
huge  shelf  on  the  side  of  the  gymnasium  wall.  It 
is  so  high  that  a  man  cannot  reach  it  as  he  stands 
on  the  floor,  and  to  mount  it  he  must  have  the 
assistance  of  one  or  more  of  his  companions.  The 
aim  of  the  shelf  drill  is  to  train  the  men  to  go  over 
walls  and  obstacles  where  there  is  nothing  for  them 
to  use  in  pulling  themselves  up.  In  working  to- 
gether, one  man  makes  a  rest  of  his  hands  and  gives 
to  his  comrade  a  "boost";  then  the  man  thus 
assisted  clambers  up  to  the  shelf,  and  turning,  pulls 
up  the  man  below  him. 

The  American  recruit  is  handed  over  to  a  sub- 
altern officer,  who  is  usually  not  long  from  West 
Point,  and  is  fresh  with  the  athletic  enthusiasm  and 
methods  of  the  Academy.  He  takes  the  place  of 
the  British  drill  sergeant.  He  tramps  side  by  side 
with  the  awkward  recruit,  and  orders  him  to  do 
nothing  which  he  himself  is  not  able  to  do  in  a  per- 
fected manner.  This  fact  of  itself  establishes  a 
wholesome  and  trusting  relation  between  the  en- 
listed man  and  his  officer.  The  man  looks  up  to 
his  superior  as  to  an  instructor  and  parent.  He 
learns  to  regard  him  not  merely  as  his  fugleman  for 
parades  and  campaigns,  but  also  as  his  preceptor, 
who  knows  him  thoroughly  and  takes  an  interest  in 

56 


British   and   American    Recruits 

him.  The  motto  of  the  American  army  is  that  the 
officer  is  the  father  of  his  men. 

The  young  recruit  gains  his  first  comprehension 
of  this  as  he  is  worked  upon  by  his  young  superior 
in  shoulder-straps.  No  famiharity  is  permitted;  the 
etiquette  is  as  rigid  and  unremitting  as  in  any  Euro- 
pean army;  the  orders  are  stifT  and  stern;  and  yet 
the  fact  remains  in  the  soldier's  mind,  through  his 
entire  service,  that  his  officer  labored  patiently  over 
him  for  months,  to  impart  to  him  from  his  own  rich 
store  of  self-command  and  high  bearing,  of  physical 
cleverness  and  military  skill.  The  man  never  forgets 
his  place,  nor  his  ofificer's  either. 

The  American  recruit  receives  a  thorough  course 
in  all  kinds  of  athletic  drill,  riding,  fencing,  walk- 
ing, running.  Especial  attention  is  given  to  the 
"  setting-up  "  exercises;  these  consist  of  a  series  of 
movements  of  arms,  legs,  and  body  which  involve 
all  the  motions  which  are  called  for  in  any  military 
action.  The  turning  of  the  arms,  raising  and  lower- 
ing them,  propulsive  motions,  the  hmbering  of  the 
joints — every  movement  that  can  contribute  to 
facility  of  action  is  a  part  of  this  extraordinary  dis- 
cipline. 

Beyond  this,  and  of  most  practical  moment,  is 
the  American  recruit's  training  in  making  tempo- 
rary trenches  with  bayonet  and  tin  plate;  in  seizing 
and  using  temporary  protections;  in  shooting  from 
behind  trees,  rocks,  hillocks,  while  showing  as  little 
of  his  body  as  possible.  The  consequence  of  this 
drill  is  that  when  in  battle  the  American  soldier  can 

57 


British  and  American  Recruits 

manage  himself  without  depending  on  orders,  and 
is  an  expert  fighter. 

In  South  Africa  the  British  regulars  could  not  be 
asked  to  make  even  temporary  entrenchments;  they 
had  to  wait  for  the  engineer  corps  to  come  up  and 
lay  them  out  and  dig  them.  But  a  company  of 
American  troops,  with  only  the  implements  they 
carry,  can  scrape  up  a  pile  of  dirt  in  front  of  them 
in  less  than  five  minutes  sufficient  to  serve  as  their 
fort  in  an  all-day  battle. 

The  charge  by  rushes  which  the  British  had  to 
learn  on  the  battlefield  is  the  trick  which  the 
American  recruit  is  taught  before  he  leaves  the 
awkward  squad.  In  this  resourcefulness  and  prac- 
ticality the  colonial  troops  in  the  South  African 
campaign  were  by  many  points  superior  to  the  Brit- 
ish regulars,  and  showed  that  they  had  been  trained 
to  some  extent  by  the  same  methods  that  have 
been  found  so  effective  for  the  American  recruit. 


59 


CHAPTER    III. 

The  Common  Soldier  in  the  Field 

HERE  is  much  in  common 
between  the  life  of  a  tramp 
and  that  of  a  soldier  in  cam- 
paign. If  the  tramp  had 
ever  watched  an  army  on  the 
march  it  might  not  be  diffi- 
cult for  him  to  imagine  him- 
self surrounded  by  all  the 
pomp  of  war.  He  is  dirty, 
unshaven,  his  clothes  are 
ragged  and  torn,  and  he 
presents  a  generally  dilapidated  and  loose-jointed 
appearance.  His  line  of  march  is  along  the  rail- 
road ;  occasionally  he  gets  a  ride  in  a  box  car, 
and  at  night  he  sleeps  beside  the  track.  If  he  is 
lucky  he  gets  a  meal  or  so  each  day;  he  cooks  the 
meal  himself  over  his  own  fire,  the  meat  sizzling  on 
the  end  of  a  stick,  and  the  coffee  boiling  in  an  old 
can.  On  and  on  he  marches  along  the  railroad,  he 
does  not  know  where,  he  does  not  care — he  just 
goes.  Finally  he  comes  to  a  town  and  stands 
around  in  the  switchyard,  or  at  the  station,  until 
some  one  comes  along  and  orders  him  out.     These 

60  - 


A  inerican  cow-boy  ivith 
Canadians  in  South 
Africa. 


The  Common  Soldier  in  the  Field 

conditions  are  those  of  the  life  of  the  average  tramp, 
but  they  fit  that  of  the  soldier  as  well,  the  chief 
point  of  difference  being  that  the  tramp  does  not 
have  to  work  and  the  soldier  does. 

Fighting  is  what  the  soldier  longs  for  and  lives 
for;  it  does  come  sometimes,  although  infrequently; 
and  during  the  intervening  routine  of  work  he 
almost  forgets  the  fighting.  The  public  at  home 
reads  of  battles,  several  of  them  perhaps  occurring 
within  a  week;  but  those  actions  cover  the  entire 
theatre  of  the  war,  and  consequently  one  command 
may  rarely  see  two  fights  in  succession.  There  is 
none  of  the  glitter  that  the  romancers  depict;  the 
glory  begins  and  ends  with  the  triumphal  march 
through  the  streets  to  the  transport.  Up  to  the 
time  that  the  last  line  that  connects  with  home  is 
cast  off,  and  the  great  troop-ship  turns  her  prow  to 
the  land  of  the  enemy,  the  soldier  feels  the  true  ex- 
citement and  exhilaration  of  war;  the  cheers  of  the 
crowd  along  the  line  of  march  still  ring  in  his  ears; 
the  brave  words  of  speeding  that  were  spoken  by 
local  oflficials,  and  the  thoughtful  attentions  of  the 
ladies'  committees  at  the  wharf  are  all  bright  mem- 
ories of  the  start  towards  fame  and  glory  on  the 
battlefield.  But  about  the  time  the  jingling  bell 
in  the  engine-room  tells  the  official  at  the  throttle 
that  the  ship  is  clear  of  the  harbor,  and  that  she 
may  settle  down  to  her  long  voyage,  the  soldier  be- 
gins to  realize  that  war  is  no  romance,  but  a  stern 
reality  that  will  take  him  away  for  a  long  time  from 
everything  and  everybody  that  he  cares  for,  with 

6i 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


the  possibility  that  he  may  never  come  back  at 
all. 

When  he  thinks  of  this,  he  pictures  himself  stag- 
gering back  from  the  crest  of  some  hill  that  is  to  be 
taken,  with  a  rifle-ball  in  his  heart.  A  few  weeks 
later  the  cause  of  his  not  going  home  means  some 
slow,  consuming  fever,  or  other  wasting  disease, 
which  gives  him  plenty  of  time  to  repent  the  day  he 
ever  thought  of  going  to  war.  Or  instead  of  that 
neat  bullet  through  the  heart,  a  ragged  chunk  of 
shell  rips  off  an  arm  or  a  leg,  or  tears  its  way 
through  his  side,  dropping  him  in  the  mud  or  dust, 
to  lie  until  some  one  finds  time  to  pick  him  up,  and 
take  him  in  a  springless  wagon  to  a  crowded  field 
hospital,  where  a  surgeon  gives  but  hasty  attention 
to  his  needs.  There  is  no  "  dying  for  the  flag" 
sentiment;  no  tender  nurse,  such  as  we  see  on  the 
stage,  to  take  the  last  message  home;  instead,  it  is 
a  helpless  sort  of  death,  without  any  one  near  who 
has  time  to  give  even  a  drink  of  water.  There  is  no 
resemblance  that  would  come  so  near  my  idea  of  a  sol- 
dier killed  in  battle  as  that  of  an  unclean,  sweating, 
and  unshaven  unfortunate  of  a  crowded  city,  struck 
by  a  street  car,  and  thrown,  bleeding  and  torn,  into 
the  mud.  Then,  if  no  one  had  time  to  pick  him 
up,  and  he  should  lie  there  for  hours,  or  perhaps 
days,  the  picture  of  a  soldier's  death  would  be  com- 
plete. 

After  the  first  few  weeks  the  whole  idea  of  war 
becomes  a  dread,  and  the  one  thought  is,  When 
shall    we   go    home  ?      After    a   few   months   have 

62 


The    Common    Soldier   in   the    Field 

passed,  a  helpless,  "don't  care"  feeling  settles 
over  every  one,  and  after  that  any  change  is  highly 
welcome,-  no  matter  whether  it  be  home,  the  hos- 
pital, or  the  trench.  The  tedium  of  war  is  more 
telling  upon  the  volunteer  than  upon  the  regular, 
as  the  former  soon  begins  to  think  of  his  interests 
at  home  that  are  perhaps  suffering.  The  volunteer 
never  thinks  that  his  services  will  be  needed  more 


Dangebhoy  hospital  cart  used  in  South  Africa. 


than  two  or  three  months  at  the  most ;  and  when 
the  service  drags  well  on  toward  a  year,  it  becomes 
almost  unbearable.  The  regular  does  not  mind  it 
so  much,  for  his  apprenticeship  of  worry  has  been 
served  with  the  early  months  of  the  first  enHst- 
ment,  and  any  change  from  barrack  life  is  an  agree- 
able one. 

After  a  soldier  has  been  in  the  field  for  a  few 
months  there  is  not  much  of  the  military  appear- 

63 


Blue    Shirt   and   Khaki 


ance  left  to  him  except  his  gun,  and  there  is  not 
the  sHghtest  trace  of  the  smart,  well-kept  man  on 
home  duty.  It  does  not  matter  about  his  appear- 
ance, however,  for  the  man  himself  is  there,  and 
of  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  in  all  creation, 
the  true  fighting  man  is  the  manliest.  He  works 
day  after  day  like  a  galley  slave,  endangers  his  life 
night  and  day,  and  yet  he  is  but  the  tiniest  portion 
of  a  great  machine,  of  whom  no  one  has  ever  heard, 
and  who  will  be  forgotten  before  the  ink  is  dry  on 
the  treaty  of  peace.  For  a  day  he  may  be  carried 
on  the  shoulders  of  a  victory-maddened  crowd,  and 
compelled  to  drink  rare  wine  from  silver  goblets; 
nothing  is  then  good  enough  for  him — the  victor. 
But  let  him  ask  a  favor  from  sovereign  or  subject, 
from  Congress  or  people,  a  year  after,  and  no  one 
remembers  him.  His  days  and  nights  in  the  field, 
suffering  that  the  nation's  honor  may  live,  are  all 
forgotten,  and  the  fighting  man  is  pushed  to  one 
side  to  make  room  for  the  trade  of  peace  that  this 
same  man  has  made  possible. 

No  honor  is  too  great  to  render  to  the  men  who 
go  out  to  fight,  whether  they  be  regulars  or  volun- 
teers. The  wage  they  receive  would  not  pay  any 
man  at  home  to  undertake  half  so  hazardous  a  task. 
Within  two  years  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of 
seeing  the  work  of  four  different  armies  in  the  field, 
fighting  for  what  they  thought  was  right.  Among 
those  four — Spaniards,  British,  Boers,  and  Ameri- 
cans— can  be  found  a  curious  variety  of  methods  of 
warfare,  and  there  is  much  that  has  never  been  told. 


The    Common    Soldier   in    the    Field 

The  common  soldiers  of  every  land  are  brave  ; 
it  is  but  a  question  of  leaders,  methods,  and  num- 
bers that  decides  which  will  be  victorious;  for  losing 
or  winning,  they  show  much  the  same  valor.  Noth- 
ing could  be  more  magnificent,  nor  reflect  more 
credit  on  the  men  of  Spain,  than  the  manner  in 
which  they  met  defeat  at  El  Caney,  at  Santiago,  and 
on  the  seas  in  the  conflicts  with  Sampson  and 
Dewey.  They  went  down  in  defeat  in  a  way  that 
won  the  admiration  of  every  soldier  and  sailor  in 
the  American  army  and  navy;  they  were  brave, 
dignified,  and  courteous  at  all  times,  even  the  rank 
and  file. 

The  fighting  methods  of  the  Boers  and  the  Ameri- 
cans are  very  similar,  and  if  the  Boers  were  trained 
in  military  tactics  their  military  character  would  be 
almost  identical  with  that  of  our  troops.  They  pos- 
sess the  same  natural  instinct  of  a  hunter  to  keep 
under  cover  that  our  men  have,  and  their  methods 
during  an  advance  are  the  same.  The  British  army 
has  just  taken  its  first  lesson  in  this  sort  of  work, 
and  altliough  it  has  been  a  costly  one,  it  will  pay  in 
the  end;  and  it  is  England's  great  good  fortune  that 
she  did  not  have  a  powerful  European  foe  for  a 
tutor,  instead  of  the  two  little  republics  whose  en- 
tire male  population  would  not  make  a  good-sized 
army  corps. 

At  the  autumn  manoeuvres  of  the  British  army  at 

Aldershot,  just  before  the  South  African  war  broke 

out,  I  Avas  watching  the  attack  and  defense  of  a  hill 

by  several   battalions  of  infantry.      Standing  with 

5  65 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


me  was  an  officer  of  the  Twelfth  Lancers,  and  we 
watched  the  progress  of  the  action  with  alert  inter- 
est. When  the  attacking  force  made  its  advance, 
I  noticed  that  neither  the  officers  nor  the  men  made 
any  attempt  at  keeping  under  the  cover  of  the  trees 
or  rocks  which  were  numerous  in  the  zone  of  fire. 
Of  course  the  men  were  using  only  blank  ammuni- 
tion, but  in  the  same  work  our  men  would  be  com- 
pelled to  crawl  along  from  tree  to  tree,  or  to  keep 
under  the  shelter  of  the  rocks.  I  remarked  to  my 
companion  that  I  should  imagine  the  officers  and 
men  would  take  greater  interest  in  the  work  in  hand 
if  they  went  at  it  as  though  it  were  real,  and  keep- 
ing to  cover. 

"  Why,  you  do  not  mean  to  say  that  American 
officers  and  soldiers  would  hide  behind  rocks  and 
trees,  do  you  ?  "   he  exclaimed  in  astonishment. 

"  Of  course  they  would,"  I  replied.  "  They 
would  not  only  get  behind  rocks  and  trees,  but 
behind  the  largest  they  could  find.  Don't  you  do 
the  same  ?  " 

No,  indeed,"  he  said  with  emphasis,  adding, 
"  What  would  the  men  think  of  an  officer  who 
would  hide  during  a  fight?"  As  it  was  not  my 
first  visit  in  England,  I  did  not  continue  the  argu- 
ment. 

It  was,  indeed,  the  general  British  opinion  that  to 
protect  oneself  in  a  fight  was  to  hide,  and  with 
this  idea  the  men  went  to  war  in  a  country  where 
the  enemy  could  find  all  the  protection  that  he 
wanted,  and    where  he  knew   how  to  use  it ;   and 

66 


I'lw  I'wiljlli  Lancers  in  South  Africa. 


General  French  examining  the  enemy's  position  during 
the  battle  of  Diamond  Hill. 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


so  these  brave  soldiers  were  sent  up  in  solid  forma- 
tion to  be  shot  to  bits  by  an  invisible  foe.  There 
could  be  no  greater  test  of  the  valor  of  the  British 
soldier  than  the  manner  in  which  he  faced  death 
during  the  first  months  of  the  war. 

The  difference  between  the  British  and  the  Ameri- 
can soldier  is  very  marked  in  the  fact  that  the  class 
feeling  in  England  is  so  great.  All  the  middle  and 
lower  classes  of  England  are  taught  to  touch  their 
hats  to  birth  in  what  is  called  a  gentleman,  and  no 
matter  where  they  meet  one,  they  show  him  defer- 
ence. From  these  middle  and  lower  classes  the 
army,  of  course,  gathers  its  strength;  consequently 
there  is  a  feeling  of  obedience  even  before  the 
real  lesson  of  the  soldier  begins.  This  subservi- 
ence is  not  always  a  good  thing,  for  any  one  who 
has  the  appearance  of  a  gentleman  has  about  as 
much  influence  or  authority  with  the  men  as  an 
officer  in  uniform  would  have.  An  incident  which 
illustrates  this  occurred  during  the  first  days  of  the 
British  occupation  of  Pretoria.  It  was  found  that 
some  of  the  Boer  sympathizers  were  communicating 
with  their  friends  on  commando  during  the  night, 
and,  to  prevent  this,  an  order  was  issued  that  no  one 
should  pass  the  sentries  posted  around  the  town 
after  sundown  or  before  sunrise,  without  a  pass 
from  the  military  governor  or  from  the  field  mar- 
shal himself.  The  order  was  as  imperative  as  could 
be  made,  for  the  danger  at  that  time  was  very  great, 
and  it  was  necessary  that  even  the  smallest  bits  of 
information  should  be  kept  from  the  Boer  forces. 
.    68 


The    Common    Soldier    in    the    Field 

A  party  of  five  Americans  were  dining  at  the  house 
of  a  friend  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  line  of  sen- 
tries, and,  when  the  order  was  issued,  it  looked  as 
though  we  would  not  get  back  until  the  next  morn- 
ing. One  of  the  party  suggested  that  we  bluff  our 
way  past  the  sentry  at  the  bridge  over  which  we 
had  to  pass.  The  plan  was  adopted,  and  we  walked 
boldly  up  to  the  sentry  post,  and  were  promptly 
challenged.  One  of  the  party  stepped  forward,  and 
in  a  tone  of  authority  said,  "  These  gentlemen  are 
Americans,  and  are  with  me,  sentry,  and  it  will  be 
all  right.      Just  pass  them  too." 

"  You  are  sure  it  will  be  all  right,  sir  ?  "  inquired 
the  sentry. 

"  Yes,  quite  sure,"  was  the  answer,  and  the  en- 
tire party  was  passed  without  any  further  trouble, 
and  for  all  the  sentry  knew  they  might  have  gone 
straight  to  the  Boer  camp,  which  was  only  a  few 
miles  away;  but  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  party 
was  one  apparently  of  gentlemen,  he  did  not  see  fit 
to  refuse  the  permission  to  pass  through  the  lines, 
even  though  the  field  marshal  had  given  his  strictest 
order  to  the  contrary.  This  was  not  a  single  occur- 
rence; any  person  could  pass  through  the  lines  at 
any  time,  providing  he  did  not  speak  English  with 
a  Dutch  accent.  To  do  that  was  to  arouse  immedi- 
ate suspicion,  and  at  times  our  own  "  Yankee 
twang"  was  enough  to  cause  the  Tommy  to  ask 
questions;  but  a  few  words  of  explanation  invari- 
ably brought  a  polite  apology. 

The  Englishman  makes  a  natural  sailor,  but  he  is 
69 


Blue    Shirt   and   Khaki 


not  a  natural  soldier,  and  it  requires  a  great  amount 
of  training  to  make  a  good  man  of  him  in  the  field ; 
he  may  drill  well,  march  well,  and  look  well,  but  he 
needs  much  training  and  good  leadership  to  fight 
well.  When  he  has  that,  there  is  no  better  soldier 
to  be  found.  It  is  in  this  respect  that  the  Ameri- 
cans, as  well  as  the  Boers,  excel  the  English  as  sol- 
diers. They  have  been  taught  to  hunt  wild  game 
in  the  wilderness  of  the  great  plains  and  deep  for- 
ests; they  have  been  taught  to  shoot  and  to  ride  in 
their  childhood.  The  reason  is  obvious — they  are 
a  people  of  a  new  country;  both  Americans  and 
Boers  have  but  recently  fought  back  the  way  for 
civilization,  and,  in  fact,  are  still  doing  the  same 
thing.  New  York  has  forgotten  the  stress,  Chicago 
is  fast  forgetting  it;  but  the  great  West  has  not 
forgotten  it  at  all,  and  everywhere  in  America  the 
spirit  of  adaptability  to  rough  conditions  still  per- 
vades our  life.  Each  year  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  who  can  get  there  seeks  the  mountains  or 
the  woods  for  a  few  days  or  weeks,  to  satisfy  the 
natural  American  longing  for  the  wild  out-of-doors 
life  that  our  forefathers  knew.  But  in  England 
there  is  no  open  shooting  as  we  know  it,  there  is  no 
camping  as  we  know  it.  It  is  true  that  the  great 
estates  have  excellent  shooting,  so  far  as  their  idea 
of  hunting  goes;  but  to  our  point  of  view  it  is  a 
senseless  slaughter.  Tame  deer  are  driven  up  to 
the  guns  to  be  shot,  or  domesticated  wild  birds 
are  flushed  by  beaters  toward  the  hidden  shooting 
party.     The  size  of  the  day's  bag  depends  merely 

70 


The    Common   Soldier    in   the    Field 

on  the  supply  of  ammunition  or  the  endurance  of 
the  trigger  finger. 

All  this  has  to  do  with  war  only  as  it  suggests 
one  reason  why  the  British  soldier  has  met  his  mas- 
ter in  the  art  of  war  in  South  Africa.  The  training 
that  makes  a  fighting  man,  if  not  a  soldier,  is  hunt- 


Heliographing  from  Diamond  Hill  to  Lord 
Roberts  in  Pretoria. 


ing  where  the  snapping  of  a  twig  or  the  approach  on 
the  wrong  wind  means  the  loss  of  the  prey.  Guns 
and  gunning  are  for  the  rich  alone  in  England,  and 
the  class  that  makes  up  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
army  never  have  a  firearm  in  their  hands  until  they 
enlist.  It  cannot  be  expected,  therefore,  that  they 
can  become  sufificiently  proficient  in  its  use  to  cope 

71 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


successfully  in  equal  numbers  with  men  who  have 
handled  rifles  since  childhood.  Not  even  the  Lon- 
don police  carry  firearms  of  any  sort.  The  soldier  is 
taught  to  load  and  shoot,  and  learns  his  marksman- 
ship at  the  target  ranges;  but  he  might  as  well  be 
taught  pigeon-shooting  in  a  street  gallery  with  a  .22 
calibre  rifle.  Target  practice  and  firing  in  action  are 
different  games,  and  the  latter  can  be  learned  only 
by  actual  practice  if  the  instinct  is  not  present. 

When  the  British  forces  were  landing  at  Beira,  in 
Portuguese  East  Africa,  to  make  their  march  into 
Rhodesia,  there  was  a  company  of  volunteers  be- 
longing to  "  Carrington's  Horse,"  already  entrained 
and  ready  to  start  for  the  front.  In  conversation 
with  one  of  the  men  I  found  that  they  were  frorft 
Edinburgh,  and  that  the  name  of  their  company 
was  the  "  Edinburgh  Sharpshooters."  Merely  from 
curiosity  I  asked  what  qualifications  were  required 
to  join  their  organization  of  sharpshooters,  and 
whether  they  had  to  make  any  particular  score. 

"  Oh,  no,"  he  said,  "  none  of  us  have  ever  shot 
a  gun  at  all  yet,  but  as  soon  as  we  get  up  here  we 
are  going  to  learn."  When  they  left  home  they 
wanted  a  name,  and  they  liked  that  of  "  sharp- 
shooter," so  they  took  it.  That  is  the  way  in 
which  many  of  the  British  soldiers  are  made;  they 
receive  a  uniform,  a  gun,  and  a  farewell  address, 
and  then  it  is  thought  that  they  are  ready  to  meet 
any  foe.  In  some  cases  our  own  volunteers  have 
been  as  unqualified  as  were  these  young  Scotch- 
men, and  we  have  suffered  for  it;  but  our  men  have 

78 


The    Common    Soldier    in   the    Field 

in  general  a  better  fundamental  training  than  those 
of  most  other  nations.  One  mark  of  the  difTerence 
between  Englishmen  and  Americans  (and  also  Cana- 
dians) is  to  be  seen  in  the  toy-shop  windows.  Tlie 
American  boy's  first  plaything,  after  he  tires  of  tin 
soldiers,  is  a  toy  pistol  with  paper  caps.  The  boy 
then  begins  to  "  play  Indian,"  and  to  shoot  and 
scalp  his  little  sisters.  In  a  few  years,  if  he  is 
favored  by  fortune,  he  will  have  a  little  rifle,  and 
then  the  Winchester  will  follow.  That  boyish 
training  helped  to  make  the  Canadian  and  Aus- 
tralian volunteers  superior  to  the  English  troops, 
and  it  is  also  in  boyhood  that  the  Boer  farmer 
learned  to  be  the  great  fighter  that  he  is.  That 
same  mimic  use  of  deadly  arms  in  childhood,  and 
the  constant  use  of  guns  against  game  in  youth, 
has  made  the  North  American  Indian  not  only  the 
most  formidable  fighter  in  the  world,  but  also  the 
world's  tutor  in  modern  warfare. 

Switzerland  has  adopted  the  idea  of  the  advan- 
tage of  training  in  the  use  of  firearms,  and  every 
man  is  furnished  with  a  rifle  by  the  government, 
and  also  with  a  certain  amount  of  ammunition  each 
year.  The  people  of  that  little  republic  could  retire 
into  the  fastnesses  of  her  mountains  and  withstand 
the  armies  of  Europe  for  months.  If  Austria,  for 
instance,  should  again  attempt  to  invade  the  can- 
tons, the  Swiss  would  show  the  world  that  they  can 
do  the  same  that  the  Boers  have  done,  and  at  least 
sell  their  land  and  liberty  at  a  tremendous  cost  of 
human  life. 

73 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


If  the  British  common  soldier  is  properly  led,  and 
if  he  has  full  confidence  in  his  leaders,  he  will  go 
anywhere ;  but  he  must  be  led,  for  he  has  no  initia- 
tive and  does  not  think  for  himself  in  the  field  any 
more  than  he  does  at  home.  What  would  an  Ameri- 
can soldier  think  of  a  special  privilege  created  in  a 
regiment  because  there  came  a  time  when  all  the 
officers  were  killed  or  wounded,  and  the  non-com- 
missioned officers  took  the  regiment  through  the 
fight  ?  There  is  an  English  regiment  in  which  the 
non-commissioned  officers  all  wear  their  sashes  over 
the  same  shoulder  as  do  the  commissioned  officers, 
because  in  a  long-ago  battle  they  led  the  regiment 
when  their  superiors  were  put  out  of  action.  In 
the  American  army  this  would  have  been  done  by 
the  non-commissioned  officers  as  a  matter  of  course, 
or  by  privates  if  the  sergeants  and  corporals  were 
disabled ;  and  in  the  terrible  slaughters  of  the  Civil 
War  more  than  once  this  happened,  demonstrating 
the  resourcefulness  of  the  American  soldier.  While 
talking  with  British  prisoners  taken  by  the  Boers,  I 
asked  them  why  they  surrendered  so  soon,  when 
they  had  ammunition  left  and  when  so  few  had  been 
hit.  Some  of  them  said  that  it  was  much  better  to 
be  a  prisoner  than  it  was  to  be  dead,  and  seemed  to 
take  it  more  as  a  joke  on  the  rest  of  the  army  that 
still  had  to  fight  while  they  were  now  in  safety. 
Some  of  them  blamed  their  officers.  But  not  one 
seemed  to  feel  that  it  was  at  all  incumbent  upon  the 
privates  to  fight  it  out  alone  or  to  take  the  lead 
when  there  was  no  officer  near.     In  all  the  months 

74 


The    Common   Soldier   in   the    Field 

of  imprisonment  in  Pretoria  and  in  the  vicinity,  the 
soldiers  did  not  make  any  attempt  to  escape,  al- 
though there  were  enough  of  them  to  have  taken 
Pretoria  empty-handed.  There  were  several  thou- 
sand British  soldiers  in  one  field  enclosed  in  wire, 
yet  they  made  no  effort  to  regain  their  liberty. 
The  reason  undoubtedly  was  that  they  had  no 
leaders  with  them.  In  such  an  attempt  some  of 
them,  of  course,  would  have  been  killed,  and  pos- 
sibly a  great  many  of  them ;  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  with  the  proper  spirit  an  escape  could  have 
been  made. 

The  care  of  the  dead  is  a  problem  to  which  the 
British  government  has  not  given  much  attention. 
Certainly  there  is  nothing  in  the  field  that  would 
indicate  that  it  had  been  seriously  considered.  But 
in  this  act  of  grace  the  American  War  Department 
maintains  a  system  which  is  in  the  highest  degree 
praiseworthy  and  which  commands  the  deference  of 
the  world. 

It  is  purely  a  matter  of  sentiment  that  prompts 
any  particular  disposition  of  the  bodies  of  those  who 
fall  in  a  fight,  or  who  succumb  to  the  ravages  of 
fever;  but  to  the  fighting  man  in  the  field  it  is  a  ten- 
der sentiment  that  means  much.  The  body  of  every 
American  soldier  who  falls  on  a  foreign  shore  is 
sooner  or  later  brought  home  and  buried,  with  all  the 
honors  of  war.  If  his  family  or  friends  want  his 
body  for  private  burial,  they  are  aided  in  securing  it ; 
but  if  it  is  not  so  claimed,  it  is  then  taken  to  one  of 
the  great  national  cemeteries  and   laid  away  with 

73 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


proper  ceremonies.  If  one  were  to  ask  a  soldier  in 
good  health  whether  he  wanted  to  be  taken  home  to 
be  buried,  he  would  probably  reply  that  it  did  not 
matter  at  all  what  was  done  with  his  body  after  he 
got  through  with  it.  But  if  the  time  came  when  death 
seemed  near,  that  same  man  would  find  sensible  satis- 
faction in  thinking  that  some  day  his  own  family  would 
stand  beside  the  box  that  served  as  the  narrow  cell 
of  his  last  sleep.  I  have  seen  many  a  man  die  soothed 
by  the  feeling  that  he  would  eventually  be  taken 
home.  In  a  severe  campaign  in  a  distant  or  foreign 
land,  the  idea  of  home  finds  a  meaning  to  matter-of- 
fact  and  apparently  unimaginative  soldiers  which 
they  cannot  express,  but  which  stirs  infinite  pathos. 
When  a  soldier  lies  weak  from  a  burning  fever,  but 
with  all  his  mental  faculties  more  than  ever  alert,  or 
when  he  is  on  solitary  outpost  duty  against  an  active 
enemy,  with  time  to  turn  the  situation  over  in  his 
mind,  it  is  then  that  he  thinks  of  home  as  at  no 
other  time,  and  it  is  then  that  he  will  appreciate  all 
that  he  knows  will  be  done  for  him  should  he  happen 
to  be  found  by  death. 

Whenever  an  American  soldier  falls  in  action  or 
dies  of  disease,  he  receives  as  good  a  burial  as  the 
circumstances  permit,  and  his  grave  is  distinctly 
marked,  so  that  there  will  be  no  possibility  of  its 
not  being  found  when  the  time  for  removal  comes. 
It  may  be  months  before  the  day  arrives,  but  it  is 
sure  to  come  at  last,  and  then  the  bodies  are  taken 
up  and  put  in  leaden-lined  coffins  and  transported 
home. 

76 


f^^H 

^1 

^ 

ifJU. 

•'^^<?. 

■ 

SSIv 

\                       ■               ■                                 -^^'« 

i^*>' 

tl^S^ 

^ 

1 

flIlH'  ^ ' 

i  1 

'■•a  ■■ '!  ^^_^^^^^^^ECvk^lH^H'']^^^^l^ 

" 

m^ 

^«H^^Ihh^B' 

k 

m. 

! 

i 
1 

jt'^h.i  '•                            ™ 

™-  .  •»M    /'('''^ 

wsE^^ 

Wm& 

#/^»^ 

» 

>' 

« 

m 

' 

Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


The  year  after  the  Cuban  campaign  I  attended  the 
burial  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-six  ofificers  and 
men  at  Arlington,  the  great  national  cemetery  on 
the  beautiful,  sloping  banks  of  the  Potomac  River, 
opposite  Washington.  The  President,  the  members 
of  the  cabinet,  the  commanding  general  of  the  army, 
and  other  high  officials  of  state  were  there  to  pay 
their  respect  to  the  noble  dead  as  they  were  laid  to 
rest  in  the  company  of  the  thousands  of  others  who 
gave  their  lives  for  their  country  in  the  Civil  War. 
The  long  lines  of  coffins,  each  one  draped  with  a 
flag,  resting  beside  the  open  graves,  ready  to  be 
lowered,  told  a  heavy  story  of  the  breakage  of  war. 
Two  chaplains,  one  Protestant  and  the  other  Roman 
Catholic,  read  the  service  for  the  burial  of  the  dead, 
while  a  soldier  stood  at  each  grave  and  sprinkled  the 
symbolic  handful  of  earth  upon  the  coffin.  At  the 
end  of  the  ceremony  the  artillery  boomed  the  last 
salute,  and  the  trumpeters  sounded  the  slow,  mourn- 
ful notes  of  "■  taps."  The  imposing  funeral  cost  the 
government  a  great  amount  of  money.  But  each 
year  the  soldier  dead  are  gathered  home  ;  the  dead  of 
every  war  our  country  has  waged  have  been  brought 
together,  a  silent  army  of  heroic  men.  These  graves 
will  be  cared  for  and  the  names  will  be  preserved  so 
long  as  the  nation  lasts. 

In  South  Africa  the  English  forces  buried  their 
dead  with  the  honors  of  war  whenever  it  was  pos- 
sible, but  not  with  the  intention  of  taking  the  bodies 
home  at  any  future  date ;  and  in  hundreds  of  cases 
the  graves  were  not  even  marked.   There  was  not  that 

78 


The    Common    Soldier    in    the    Field 

deserved  attention  paid  to  the  dead  which  seemed 
often  feasible,  and  which  in  some  cases  I  felt  that 
Americans  would  have  made  feasible.  In  one  in- 
stance in  Natal  a  Boer  general  sent  a  flag  of  truce  to 
the  British  general,  whose  forces  had  just  met  with  a 
severe  defeat,  and  told  him  that  a  truce  would  be 
allowed  in  which  to  bury  the  dead,  and  that  if  the 
British   general   would   send   out  a   burial  party   it 


Gathering  the  dead  after  the  battle  of  Diamond  Hill. 


would  be  given  safe  conduct  and  every  assistance 
in  the  work.  The  answer  went  back  to  the  Boer 
commander,  "  Bury  them  yourself  and  send  us  the 
bill."  The  Boers  did  bury  them,  and  read  a  Chris- 
tian service  over  them,  but  they  did  not  send  in  a 
bill. 

When  rightly  led,  there  is  no  braver  soldier  on  earth 
than  the  "  gentleman  in  khaki  "  who  goes  out  to  do 
his  Sovereign's  bidding  in  every  part  of  the  world. 

79 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


He  is  the  finest  specimen  of  the  sturdy  soldier  known 
in  Europe.  He  is  not  unlike  the  American  soldier, 
except  in  the  standard  of  education  and  self-reliance. 
He  is  the  same  happy,  careless,  and  kind-hearted 
man,  who  will  fight  an  enemy  all  day,  and,  when  he 
has  been  defeated,  feed  him  out  of  his  own  scanty 
store  of  rations.  The  British  soldier  does  not  often 
become  intoxicated  ;  but  when  he  does  chance  to 
take  too  much,  he  is  apt  to  be  affected  with  a  bit 
more  of  dignity,  or  with  an  exaggerated  straightness ; 
he  is  rarely  quarrelsome. 

The  British  soldier  in  the  field  is  by  far  more  at- 
tentive to  his  personal  and  military  appearance  than 
is  the  American  soldier  when  on  a  hard  campaign. 
All  the  men  in  South  Africa  wore  their  heavy  cross- 
belts  and  pouches  when,  had  they  been  our  men,  it 
is  quite  likely  they  would  have  been  lost,  for  they 
were  of  no  great  importance  to  the  comfort  of  the 
soldier.  The  Britisher  keeps  well  shaven  at  all 
times  in  the  field,  and,  although  he  is  burned  as  only 
an  African  sun  can  burn,  he  looks  well  groomed. 
It  does  not  seem  to  be  compulsory  to  shave,  as  some 
of  the  men  are  whiskered,  but  the  large  majority  of 
the  men  keep  their  faces  free  from  a  beard.  Natu- 
rally, however,  their  uniforms  get  very  dirty,  espe- 
cially as  they  do  not  have  any  shelter  tents  to  pro- 
tect them  from  the  rain,  and  frequently  the  regiments 
on  the  march  look  as  though  they  were  uniformed 
in  black  or  a  dark  brown. 

One  thing  in  which  the  British  soldiers  are  far  be- 
hind the  American  is  in  ordinary  entrenching  work 

80 


The    Common   Soldier   in    the    Field 

in  the  field ;  they  do  not  seem  to  understand  the 
first  principles  of  construction  of  trenches,  either 
temporary  or  permanent.  The  sappers  or  engineers 
are,  of  course,  proficient  in  the  work,  but  the  ordi- 
nary infantrymen  or  cavalrymen  do  not  go  at  the 
work  with  the  same  intelligence  that  the  Americans 
display.  This  is  not  because  they  lack  the  intelli- 
gence, but  because  they  have  never  been  trained  for 
that  obviously  necessary  work,  always  having  been 
taught  to  rely  upon  the  engineer  corps.  Nearly  all 
the  men  carry  an  entrenching  tool,  but  they  have  not 
had  the  necessary  practice  and  instruction  in  its  use 
to  make  it  a  useful  implement  in  their  hands.  The 
American  soldiers  can  do  more  and  better  work  in 
protecting  themselves  in  a  temporary  trench  with 
the  top  of  a  mess  tin  than  the  British  soldiers  can 
do  with  their  special  tools.  This  is  not  the  fault  of 
the  British  soldiers,  but  that  of  the  officers  who  have 
neglected  to  train  them  in  this  most  important  self- 
protection  in  the  field.  Dr.  Conan  Doyle  calls  the 
infantry  especially  to  account  for  their  ignorance  in 
digging  trenches  in  the  South  African  war,  and  says 
that  the  work  they  did  were  mere  rabbit-scratchings 
in  comparison  with  the  work  of  the  amateur  soldiers 
opposed  to  them. 

To  compare  the  relative  bravery  of  the  American 
soldier  and  Tommy  Atkins  is  very  difficult ;  there 
is  a  difference,  but  it  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  train- 
ing and  not  to  the  actual  courage  of  the  men.  There 
could  be  no  better  or  braver  soldier  desired  than  the 
British  when  he  knows  what  to  do  and  when  he  is 
6  8i 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


properly  led  ;  but  the  trouble  is  that  he  has  not  been 
taught  to  think  for  himself,  and  the  majority  of  his 
officers  do  not  take  the  trouble  to  think  for  him. 
The  consequence  has  been  that  the  Boers  took 
more  prisoners  than  they  could  feed.  There  are  in- 
stances, shamefully  numerous,  where  a  greatly  supe- 
rior force  has  surrendered  to  the  Boers  after  very 
slight  resistance.  Howard  C.  Hillegas  gives  a  num- 
ber of  cases,  in  his  book  on  the  Boer  war,  where 
from  three  to  sixty  men  have  been  captured  by  one 
or  two  Boers,  without  firing  a  shot  in  defense.  It  is 
true  that  they  were  surprised  in  a  mountainous  or 
rocky  place,  where  they  could  not  tell  how  many  of 
the  enemy  were  opposed  to  them,  but  even  this 
would  not  excuse  a  bloodless  surrender.  I  know  of 
one  case  where  over  seven  hundred  regular  soldiers 
surrendered  to  a  few  more  than  a  hundred  burghers, 
after  a  loss  of  eight  killed  and  twenty-three  wounded, 
and  with  their  belts  half  full  of  ammunition.  They 
were  not  in  the  open,  but  were  well  covered,  and  in 
as  good  a  position  as  were  the  Boers.  General  Me- 
thuen's  despatch  to  the  War  Ofifice  after  one  of  his 
first  engagements,  in  which  he  described  it  as  "  the 
bloodiest  battle  of  the  century,"  after  he  had  sus- 
tained a  ridiculously  small  loss,  shows  that  to  the 
British  mind  losses  are  more  disturbing  than  to  the 
American, 

The  Fifth  Army  Corps  never  would  have  reached 
Santiago,  and  never  would  have  driven  out  the  Span- 
ish fleet,  had  they  ever  allowed  themselves  to  be 
checked  as  the  British  did  in  South  Africa  before 

82 


The    Common    Soldier   in   the    Field 

Lord  Roberts  came.  At  Guasimas  the  dismounted 
cavalry,  under  General  Young  and  Colonel  Roose- 
velt, attacked  more  than  four  times  their  number  of 
Spaniards,  who  were  carefully  entrenched  in  per- 
fectly constructed  works,  in  a  mountainous  pass  that 
was  thick  with  a  tropical  undergrowth.  The  enemy's 
fire  was  well  directed  and  very  heavy,  and  at  one 
time  the  cavalry  attacking  were  fought  almost  to  a 
standstill ;  in  order  to  save  themselves  they  charged 
the  works,  with  a  loss  of  sixteen  killed  and  thirty- 
two  wounded.  At  El  Caney  and  San  Juan  the 
fighting  quality  of  soldiers  was  shown  on  both  sides ; 
and  it  was  on  those  fields  that  the  American  gained 
his  first  deep  respect  for  the  Spaniard  as  a  fighting 
man.  All  day  long  General  Lawton's  division  fought 
every  inch  of  the  ground  toward  the  little  suburb  of 
El  Caney  under  the  stone  fort,  and  General  Kent's 
division  advanced  steadily,  until  there  came  the  final 
rush  up  San  Juan  hill.  At  the  latter  place  the  Span- 
iards waited  and  fought  until  the  bayonet  drove 
them  out,  and  at  the  former  they  stayed  and  gal- 
lantly died.  Very  few  prisoners  were  taken  at  El 
Caney,  and  almost  every  one  of  these  was  badly 
wounded.  The  scene  inside  the  stone  fort  was  be- 
yond description.  Captain  Capron's  battery  had  hit 
it  forty-eight  times  during  the  day,  and  the  little 
force  inside  was  literally  shot  to  pieces ;  the  walls 
and  roof  had  fallen  in,  and  the  floor  was  strewn  with 
the  wreck,  covering  the  bodies  of  the  dead  and 
wounded.  Blood  was  spattered  over  the  walls  that 
were  still  standing,  and  the  terrible  tropical  sun  had 

83 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


caused  a  sickening  odor.  There  was  not  a  man  in 
the  fort  that  was  not  hit,  and  only  two  or  three  were 
still  alive.  Even  after  this  fort  was  taken,  which 
was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  we  were  busy  burying 
the  enemy's  dead  and  caring  for  the  wounded,  the 
Spaniards  were  still  fighting  at  the  thatched  fort  on 
the  other  side  of  the  town.  The  thought  of  sur- 
rendering never  seemed  to  enter  their  minds. 

I  was  reminded  of  their  bravery  at  Santiago  by 
Cronje's  noble  stand  at  Paardeburg,  where  he  with- 
stood the  combined  attack  of  forty  thousand  British 
soldiers  with  many  guns  for  twelve  days.  Although 
he  was  in  a  defenseless  position,  and  although  the 
number  of  men  and  animals  killed  caused  a  frightful 
condition  within  his  lines,  still  he  held  out  until  his 
ammunition  was  entirely  expended.  Both  the  Span- 
iards and  the  Boers  went  to  the  opposite  extreme  from 
the  British  in  the  matter  of  surrendering,  for  there  is 
no  doubt  that  in  many  instances  the  latter  gave  up 
far  too  easily.  So  many  of  them  surrendered  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the  war,  that  the  Boers  were 
compelled,  after  they  had  disarmed  them,  to  set 
them  free,  as  they  had  no  accommodations  or  means 
of  caring  for  the  thousands  captured. 

There  is  a  significant  contrast  in  the  action  of  the 
British  and  American  governments  regarding  men 
who  are  lost  by  capture.  It  is  the  policy  of  the 
British  government  to  make  no  effort  to  rescue  them  ; 
all  the  prisoners  are  made  to  pay  allowances,  and 
promotion  ceases  from  the  date  of  their  capture. 
On  the  contrary,  whenever  any  handful  of  Ameri- 

84 


The    Common    Soldier   in   the    Field 

can  soldiers  have  been  captured  in  the  Philippines, 
no  possible  efforts  have  been  spared  to  release  them  ; 
in  the  case  of  the  capture  of  Lieutenant-Commander 
Gilmore  and  his  men,  a  force  of  cavalry  followed 
them  for  several  hundred  miles,  until  finally,  when 
they  overtook  them,  the  rescuing  party  were  in  al- 
most as  miserable  a  condition  as  were  the  prisoners 
themselves.  The  circumstances  in  the  Philippines 
and  South  Africa  are  quite  dissimilar,  however,  and 
it  was  possibly  good  strategy  on  the  part  of  Lord 
Roberts  to  allow  the  prisoners  to  remain  in  the 
hands  of  the  Boers,  as  the  responsibility  for  them 
was  necessarily  a  serious  embarrassment  for  a  small 
force  ;  and  on  this  account  he  would  not  exchange 
any  prisoners. 

It  is  astonishing  that  the  death  rate  from  disease 
among  the  men  in  the  British  army  while  in  the  field 
is  not  greater,  for,  not  having  a  shelter  tent  of  any 
description,  the  men  are  compelled  to  sleep  in  the 
open  unless  they  happen  to  be  able  to  provide  a 
temporary  shelter  for  themselves.  I  have  frequently 
seen  a  rain  storm  of  several  days'  duration,  where 
the  men  were  wet  day  and  night  and  had  no  op- 
portunity whatever  of  drying  their  clothes.  The 
English  army  uses  regular  tents  as  much  as  we 
do  in  our  service,  but  in  the  actual  field  work,  where 
the  company  tents  must  be  left  at  the  base  of  sup- 
plies, they  are  shelterless. 

Not  only  are  the  British  lacking  in  the  giving  of 
shelter  and  comfort  to  the  men  while  in  the  field,  but 
all  the  other  European  armies  are  also  very  backward 

85 


Blue   Shirt   and   Khaki 


in  this  respect — none  of  them  using  the  shelter  tent 
as  it  is  used  by  United  States  forces.  This  is  a  simple 
and  light  portion  of  an  equipment,  which  produces 
more  comfort  for  the  men  than  anything  else  they 
could  possibly  carry,  for  it  is  used  in  other  ways  than 
as  a  shelter.  In  light  marching  order  it  is  wrapped 
around  the  blanket,  forming  the  blanket-roll,  the 
sticks  and  pegs  being  wrapped  inside;  two  men,  each 
carrying  a  half,  sharing  the  tent. 

In  the  out-of-door  life  of  campaign,  our  men  again 
have  the  advantage  of  the  training  which  is  bound 
to  come  from  a  new  country  where  sleeping  in  the 
open  is  not  unusual.  In  the  German  army  the  men 
are  billeted  upon  the  various  towns  or  cities  near 
which  they  happen  to  make  their  night's  halt.  The 
German  War  Department  has  statistics  showing  the 
capacity  of  every  house  in  the  empire,  and  wherever 
a  body  of  troops  is  moved,  information  is  given  to  the 
officers  regarding  the  accommodations  to  be  found. 
Consequently,  when  a  command  marches  into  a  vil- 
lage or  town,  they  are  told  off  into  squads  and  sent 
to  their  respective  quarters  as  easily  as  though  they 
were  in  their  own  barracks. 

During  the  autumn  manoeuvres  of  the  German 
army  in  1899,  after  watching  the  operations  for  the 
day,  I  was  sitting  in  a  hotel,  talking  with  some  of 
the  staff  officers,  when  one  of  them  said  in  a  most 
mysterious  manner,  "  Ah,  but  you  must  wait  until 
Thursday  night ! " 

"  What  is  to  happen  Thursday  night  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  Wait,"  he  said ;  "  wait  until  then.  It  will  be 
86 


The    Common    Soldier   in   the    Field 

wonderful."  And  his  brother  officers  shared  his 
mild  excitement  over  the  events  promised  for  this 
particular  night.  I  had  visions  of  all  sorts  of  excit- 
ing things — of  night  attacks,  forced  marches,  or  any- 
thing up  to  a  real  declaration  of  war. 

"  But  what  is  it  ? "  I  asked,  growing  intensely 
interested. 

"  Why,"  he  said,  "  the  army  is  going  to  bivouac  all 
night — in  the  open  air — on  the  ground  ;  "  and  then 
he  settled  back  to  watch  the  effect  of  his  startling 
statement. 

So  unused  to  camping  were  they  that  the  event 
was  looked  forward  to  as  children  might  look  for- 
ward to  Christmas  morning.  It  was  the  event  of  the 
campaign,  and  the  effect  of  putting  these  soldiers 
into  the  field  where  there  were  no  houses  to  be  used 
for  shelter  would  be  a  problem. 

The  custom  of  the  foreign  governments  of  giving 
medals  to  their  soldiers  for  a  campaign  is  an  exceed- 
ingly good  one,  and  might  well  be  copied  to  a  degree 
in  the  United  States.  There  is  a  certain  aversion  in 
this  country  for  the  use  of  national  medals,  and  yet 
there  are  quite  as  many  in  the  form  of  military  orders, 
society  orders,  and  decorations  issued  by  the  various 
States,  as  are  used  in  any  European  country.  But 
these  all  lack  that  distinguished  origin  and  endorse- 
ment which  makes  a  man  proud  to  wear  them.  The 
British  government  is  far  in  advance  in  the  system 
it  has  adopted  for  military  decorations.  A  war 
medal  is  struck  after  every  campaign,  and  given  to 
every  man  who  has  shared  in  it,  the  soldiers  receiv- 

87 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


ing  a  silver  medal,  and  the  camp-followers,  drivers, 
etc.,  a  bronze  one.  They  are  worn  with  full  dress, 
and  the  ribbons  are  worn  with  fatigue  dress  or  in 
the  field.  The  higher  orders  are  the  Victoria  Cross, 
which  corresponds  to  our  Medal  of  Honor,  and  the 
"  distinguished  service "  order,  given  for  the  same 
kind  of  deeds  for  which  the  men  of  our  army  would 
be  mentioned  in  the  order  of  that  name,  issued  each 
year  by  the  Secretary  of  War. 

It  would  be  a  very  simple  thing  for  our  govern- 
ment to  issue  a  war  medal  after  every  campaign,  to 
be  given  to  every  man  who  had  served  in  it.  It  is  a 
trinket  of  no  intrinsic  value,  but  the  men  who  have 
the  right  to  wear  it  have  gained  it  through  hard- 
fought  battles  and  privations  without  number;  they 
prize  these  trophies  superlatively,  and  their  families 
treasure  them  after  they  are  dead.  Our  government 
now  issues  several  medals,  and  so  the  campaign 
medal  would  be  no  departure  from  our  custom. 
It  is  always  a  pleasure  to  see  the  respect  paid  to 
some  old  pensioner  who  carries  an  empty  sleeve,  as 
he  enters  a  room  or  climbs  into  a  'bus  in  London, 
with  the  medal  of  the  Crimea  hanging  to  his  coat. 

The  fighting  man  in  the  field  commands  respect,  no 
matter  from  what  nation  he  may  come,  nor  for  what 
cause  he  is  fighting.  He  is  one  atom  of  a  great 
body  that  acts  under  the  head  and  brain  of  one  man, 
and  to  a  certain  extent  he  reflects  the  personality 
of  his  commander.  But  he  is  directly  dependent  upon 
the  ofificers  over  him,  and  it  rests  largely  with  them 
whether  he  is  to  be  considered  a  capable  man  or  not. 

88 


The    Common    Soldier    in    the    Field 

The  British  soldier  has  been  taught  to  rely  absolutely 
upon  the  judgment  of  his  officers;  and  if  he  has 
been  found  wanting,  the  blame  rests  with  them  and 
not  with  him.  No  better  war  material  could  be  de- 
sired than  the  khaki  man  fighting  in  South  Africa, 
unless  it  be  the  man  in  the  blue  shirt  fighting  in  the 
Philippines. 

This  latter  man  represents  the  extreme  of  self- 
reliance  in  the  field ;  to  that  he  has  been  trained  by 
his  officers ;  for  that  his  original  intelligence  and  his 
Yankee  inventiveness  have  peculiarly  fitted  him. 
With  that  self-reliance  goes  an  American  objection 
to  being  dispirited  under  failure.  When  he  is  down 
he  does  not  stop  regarding  himself  as  "  game  " ; 
under  awful  odds  he  cannot  see  sense  in  surrender, 
and  if  he  does  become  a  prisoner  he  schemes  and 
frets  and  digs  and  plots  to  escape.  He  is  probably 
the  best  fifrhtincr  soldier  in  the  world. 


89 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Officers 

O  strike  a  comparison  between  the 
British  and  the  American  officer,  we 
do  not  need  to  go  further  into  their 
military  career  than  their  first  school- 
ing at  the  government  institutions. 
The  fact  that  the  English  cadet  re- 
ceives eighteen  months'  training,  end- 
ing with  an  indifferent  examination, 
while  the  West  Pointer  is  given  four 
years  of  the  most  difficult  work,  both 
mental  and  physical,  known  to  the 
military  world,  indicates  the  whole 
story. 

Yet,  up  to  the  time  of  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  in  South  Africa,  the  British  officers  were 
generally  considered  to  be  at  the  head  of  their  profes- 
sion. The  colonies  were  taught  to  look  up  to  them  in 
everything  that  pertained  to  the  service ;  the  Euro- 
pean and  American  War  Departments  considered 
them  models  to  be  studied.  But  six  months'  cam- 
paigning against  a  practical  and  astute  foe  proved 
many  of  them  as  clumsy  of  mind  and  as  inefficient  as 
the  officers  of  King  George  III.  who  surrendered  to 

90 


American  volun- 
teer officer. 


The   Officers 


Gates  and  Washington.  The  modern  British  officer 
has  received  the  pin-prick  of  active  duty  against 
modern  fighters ;  his  inflation  has  vanished. 

The  exposure  was  sure  to  come  in  his  first  meeting 
with  a  clever  enemy.  It  cannot  be  expected  that  a 
man  can  become  proficient  in  the  art  of  war  after 
eighteen  months'  superficial  training,  or  after  a  year's 
service  in  the  mihtia.  In  times  of  peace  he  leaves 
all  the  duty  pertaining  to  his  regiment  to  his  com- 
petent non-commissioned  staff,  and  his  sole  duty  has 
seemed  to  be  to  attend  social  functions,  play  polo, 
cricket,  or  ride  steeple-chases.  The  sergeant-majors 
knew  the  work  and  did  it ;  they  attended  to  the  tasks 
that  should  have  been  done  by  the  subaltern  officers ; 
and  they  performed  that  work  so  well  that  the  regi- 
mental business  proceeded  in  a  neat  and  harmoni- 
ous manner,  for  which  the  officers  took  the  credit. 
Now  comes  the  time  when  aptness  in  society,  polo, 
and  cricket  does  not  cut  any  figure  in  the  problem  to 
be  solved.  Actual  war  with  a  keen-witted  enemy 
stares  the  gorgeous  officers  in  the  face,  and  they  suf- 
fer from  their  own  ignorance  simply  because,  with 
all  their  personal  courage — and  there  are  no  braver 
in  the  world  than  some  of  them — they  have  not 
learned  their  most  obvious  business. 

In  days  gone  by  a  couple  of  thousand  pounds 
would  purchase  a  commission  in  almost  any  of  the 
Royal  regiments ;  but  that  practice  has  been  abol- 
ished for  one  that  is  equally  pernicious  in  its  effects. 
Now,  while  a  man  cannot  actually  purchase  a  com- 
mission in  the  British  army,  almost  any  young  man 

91 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


of  position  who  has  sufficient  income  to  sustain  his 
social  rank  can  obtain  the  Royal  warrant  for  the 
asking.  No  British  officer  can  support  himself  on  the 
pay  allowed,  and  he  is  not  expected  to  do  so  ;  it  is 
largely  a  matter  of  income  whether  or  no  a  man  re- 
ceives his  commission.  An  English  officer  is  paid 
about  half  as  much  as  an  American  officer,  and  his 
expenses  are  many  times  greater.  He  must  support 
his  clubs,  and  the  stables  for  his  polo,  driving,  and 
riding  stock ;  even  the  regimental  band  must  be  main- 
tained by  a  subscription  from  the  officers,  which  of 
itself  would  nearly  exhaust  his  pay,  since  the  British 
army  does  not  include  any  but  field  music  in  its  en- 
listment. This  fact  alone  would  make  promotion 
from  the  ranks  practically  impossible,  although  it  is 
permitted  by  the  army  regulations ;  but  the  officer's 
tale  of  necessary  expenses  and  subscriptions  requires 
such  a  large  private  income  that  it  is  absurd  for  the 
men  in  the  ranks  to  dream  of  rising  higher  than  the 
non-commissioned  stafT. 

There  is  no  finer  man  living  than  the  British  officer 
at  home ;  his  politeness  rivals  that  of  the  Latin  races, 
and  his  hospitality  could  not  be  excelled  by  a  Virgin- 
ian. He  entertains  in  the  most  lavish  manner,  and 
in  time  of  peace  he  is  an  ideal  soldier,  and  merits  the 
idolatry  society  gives  him.  His  garrison  duties  do 
not  require  his  attention  to  the  exclusion  of  any  of 
his  pleasures;  consequently  he  has  time  to  devote 
to  his  guests,  and  he  entertains  them  in  a  superb 
manner.  The  regimental  messes  are  the  most  splen- 
did social  institutions  of  England,  and  the  guest-night 

92 


I.  Maj.  Eastwood^  I2th  Lancers.     2.  Col.  Beech,  Egyptian  Cavalry.     3.  Sir  John 
Milbanke.,  V.  C.    4.  Col.  Chamberlain,  Military  Secretary.     5.  A  Canadian  officer. 


The    Officers 


of  a  cavalry  or  Household  regiment  is  scarcely  out- 
done in  brilliancy  at  the  royal  court  itself. 

It  was  expected,  however,  that  officers  who  devoted 
so  much  time  to  the  honor  and  appearance  of  their 
regiments  would  at  least  be  proficient  in  military 
science ;  but,  when  the  supreme  test  arrived,  they  were 
found  lacking,  and  what  the  observer  in  England 
took  for  indifference  to  the  work  was  in  reality  igno- 
rance. No  one  was  half  so  surprised,  however,  at  the 
ignorance  of  the  British  officer  as  the  British  officer 
himself.  He  was  not  able  to  realize  that  he  did  not 
understand  his  profession ;  and  to  this  day  hundreds 
of  officers  do  not  realize  their  ignorance,  because  so 
many  have  not  yet  had  the  fortune  to  be  brought 
face  to  face  with  a  campaign  crisis  sufficiently  grave 
to  show  them  their  own  weakness. 

It  has  been  a  popular  idea  that  the  effect  of  the 
South  African  war  will  be  to  bind  the  colonies  closer 
to  the  mother  country.  But  the  ignorance  that  has 
been  displayed  by  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  imperial 
forces  is  bound  to  have  its  effect  sooner  or  later  upon 
the  colonial  dependencies,  which  heretofore  have 
looked  upon  the  English  officer  as  a  military  idol. 

For  some  days  after  Pretoria  was  taken,  I  was 
much  in  the  company  of  officers  of  the  Canadian 
contingent,  and  their  views  of  the  South  African  sit- 
uation were  refreshingly  straightforward  and  enlight- 
ening. I  talked  with  a  Toronto  captain  who  wore 
the  ribbon  of  the  Northwest  Rebellion,  and  who  had 
served  with  Roosevelt  in  Cuba  merely  for  the  fun  of 
fighting,  and   I  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  the 

95 


Blue    Shirt   and   Khaki 


British  Colonel  of  Volunteers. 


whole  show.     He  was  a  man  whose  judgment  was 
sound,  a  man  of  the  kind  that  we  know  as  the  sound 

business  man  of  this 
continent — a  charac- 
ter with  prestige  al- 
most unknown  in 
England. 

''  Well,"  he  said,  "  it 
isn't  the  way  we 
would  do  it,  is  it? 
We  colonials  have 
been  taught  that  noth- 
ing we  could  do  could 
possibly  be  just  right ; 
nothing  we  could  say 
could  just  suit  the  point;  and  we  are  brought  over 
here  and  dumped  into 
a  country  under  a  lot 
of  officers  who  don't 
know  as  much  as  a 
child  at  home  would 
know  about  the  same 
game." 

Throughout  the  col- 
onial regiments  that 
sentiment  was  mani- 
fest, for  both  the  Aus- 
tralian and  Canadian 
forces  were  volunteers 

of  the  same  type  that  constitutes  the  United  States 
volunteer  army  in  time  of  war.    Business  men,  profes- 

96 


Colonel  Peabody^  U.  S.  Volunteers. 


The    O  f f  i  c  e  r  s 


sional  men,  and  society  men — all  sorts  and  conditions 
— volunteered  from  purely  patriotic  feeling ;  they  each 
went  from  a  new  country,  where  every  man  is  to  some 
degree  an  adventurer.  The  same  spirit  that  had  sent 
men  to  the  colonies  now  sent  men  to  the  war.  They 
are  men  with  intelligence  and  courage  enough  to 
better  their  personal  surroundings,  and  consequently 
are  capable  of  approaching  a  situation  with  daring 
and  executing  it  with  success.  While  the  colonials 
were  in  the  field  in  South  Africa,  I  think  their  opin- 
ions of  the  imperial  offtcer  took  the  shape  of  amuse- 
ment rather  than  contempt ;  but  when  they  have 
returned  to  their  homes  their  derision  is  bound  to 
become  scorn  ;  for  that  great  respect  which  they  have 
been  taught  to  feel  is  broken,  and  they  have  suddenly 
awakened  to  the  fact  that  they  of  the  New  World 
have  outstripped  the  mother  country  in  practicality. 
The  imperial  ofificer  did  not  hesitate  to  show  his 
contempt  for  the  colonial  officer;  not  because  he 
lacked  intellect  or  bravery,  or  anything  that  a  sol- 
dier should  have,  but  because  his  social  position 
was  not  equal  to  the  English  idea.  It  was  the 
old-time  prejudice  against  "the  man  in  trade;" 
for  the  British  society  man  cannot  understand  the 
spirit  and  life  of  a  new  country,  where  every  man, 
rich  or  poor,  of  high  or  low  birth,  is  what  they  call 
"  in  trade."  The  colonial  officers  felt  this  treat- 
ment keenly,  for  they  soon  perceived  their  own 
military  superiority;  although  they  did  not  make 
manifest  their  sensitiveness,  they  resented  the  lofty 
manner  of  the  imperial  officers. 
7  97 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


There  was  a  most  unexpected  disclosure  of  char- 
acter in  the  conduct  of  many  of  the  British  officers 
who  were  taken  as  prisoners  of  war  by  the  Boers. 
A  great  deal  has  been  said  on  this  subject,  and 
although  the  story  has  been  told  many  times  by 
those  who  witnessed  the  exhibitions,  it  is  flatly 
denied  by  nearly  all  Englishmen,  especially  by 
those  who  stayed  at  home. 

During  the  first  months  of  the  war  the  British 
officers  who  had  been  captured  were  quartered  in 
the  Staats  Model  Schoolhouse,  in  the  heart  of 
Pretoria.  It  is  a  handsome  one-story  brick  build- 
ing, built  according  to  the  most  approved  plan  of 
what  a  modern  school  should  be.  At  the  rear  is  a 
spacious  yard,  which  served  as  a  place  in  which  the 
officers  might  exercise.  It  was  through  this  yard 
and  over  the  side  fence  that  the  war  correspondent, 
Winston  Spencer  Churchill,  succeeded  in  making 
his  escape.  Some  of  the  officers  who  had  been  in 
the  prison  at  the  same  time  were  very  bitter  against 
Mr.  Churchill,  as  they  say  he  anticipated  a  plot 
planned  by  many  of  the  prisoners  by  which  a  large 
number  could  escape.  As  he  escaped  sooner  than 
the  time  agreed  upon,  it  prevented  the  others  from 
making  the  attempt. 

The  Boer  authorities  were  obliged  to  remove  the 
officers  from  the  Model  Schoolhouse  to  the  open 
country,  on  account  of  the  unbecoming  conduct  that 
some  of  them  displayed  towards  the  ladies  of  Pre- 
toria who  lived  in  the  vicinity  or  who  happened  to 
be  passing  along  the  streets.      It  is  the  extraordi- 


The    Officers 


nary  fact  that  some  of  the  British  officers  made  offen- 
sive remarks  to  these  ladies,  and  altogether  acted  in 
a  disgraceful  manner.  They  defaced  the  walls  of  the 
building  shamefully,  cutting  it  and  drawing  all  sorts 
of  pictures  upon  it.  An  exception  to  this  vandal- 
ism was  the  exceedingly  clever  topographical  work 
of  one  of  the  officers  in  drawing  a  huge  map  of  the 
South  African  Republic  and  its  surroundings.  It 
was,  in  fact,  so  cleverly  done  that,  as  the  artist  had 
not  time  to  finish  it  previous  to  the  removal  of  the 
prisoners  to  their  new  quarters,  the  Boer  officials 
requested  that  he  continue  the  work,  and  allowed 
him  to  return  each  day  until  it  was  completed. 
When  the  building  was  renovated  and  the  interior 
defacings  removed,  this  map  was  allowed  to  remain, 
and  it  will  be  preserved. 

There  is  absolutely  no  doubt  of  this  disgraceful 
conduct  of  some  of  the  officers  at  the  Model  School- 
house,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  this  conduct  was 
the  cause  of  their  removal  to  the  outskirts  of  the 
town.  It  is  persistently  denied,  but  it  remains  a 
fact,  nevertheless,  for  instance  after  instance  in 
proof  of  it  was  narrated  to  me  by  the  Boers.  In- 
deed, I  myself  had  one  remarkable  occasion  to  wit- 
ness the  discreditable  conduct  of  certain  of  the 
officers. 

On  my  way  to  South  Africa  I  had  occasion  to 
stop  at  Cairo  for  about  two  weeks,  waiting  for  an 
East  Coast  steamer;  and  while  at  Shepherd's  I  was 
told  that  the  commander  of  one  of  the  Egyptian 
regiments,  a  Colonel  Kelly,  had  a  son  who  was  a 

99 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


prisoner  in  Pretoria,  from  whom  he  had  not  heard 
for  many  months.  He  had  been  captured  early 
in  the  war,  and  all  attempts  to  communicate  with 
him  had  proved  fruitless.  Colonel  Kelly  expressed 
the  desire  to  meet  me,  as  I  was  going  directly 
to  the  Transvaal  capital.  Consequently  I  had  the 
honor  of  a  call  from  him.  He  is  a  magnificent 
type  of  the  Irish  soldier,  a  man  who  has  fought 
in  every  zone  and  in  every  quarter  of  the  British 
Empire;  one  of  those  men  who  has  cut  the  path- 
way of  civilization  and  progress  for  the  statesman 
to  follow.  Colonel  Kelly  requested  me  to  take  a 
letter  to  his  son  and  endeavor  to  deliver  it  to  him 
by  obtaining  permission  from  the  Transvaal  authori- 
ties. I  took  the  letter,  and  the  second  day  after  I 
reached  Pretoria  I  asked  Secretary  of  State  Reitz 
what  course  to  pursue  so  as  to  obtain  permission  to 
deliver  the  letter.  Although  all  the  officials  were 
extremely  considerate  and  glad  to  assist  me  in  what 
I  desired  to  obtain,  it  took  me  several  days  to  get 
the  passes  required  in  order  to  see  Lieutenant  Kelly. 
Finally,  having  obtained  the  necessary  signatures  to 
several  papers  giving  permission  to  deliver  the  let- 
ter, I  drove  out  to  the  officers'  prison,  which  was 
about  a  mile  from  Pretoria,  on  the  first  slope  of  the 
foothills. 

The  prison  consisted  of  a  long,  corrugated-iron 
building,  enclosed  in  a  barbed-wire  barricade,  the 
ground  around  the  building  covering  several  acres, 
sufficiently  large  for  the  officers  to  play  cricket, 
football,  or  tennis.     The  barbed-wire  entanglement 

lOO 


1.  Slaats  Model  Schoolliouse,  Pretoria,  where  the  British 
officers  -were  first  confined  as  prisoners  of  -war. 

2,  Barbed-wire  prison,  Pretoria,  cohere  the  British  offi- 
cers were  confined  after  their  removal  from  the  city. 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


was  about  six  feet  high  and  fifteen  feet  broad,  and 
was  constructed  as  though  three  parallel  fences  were 
interlaced  with  innumerable  strands  of  loose  wire. 
There  was  never  a  very  heavy  guard  at  the  prison, 
as  the  impenetrable  character  of  the  enclosure  made 
it  unnecessary  that  there  should  be  more  than  a 
small  body  of  men  on  watch.  A  line  of  electric- 
light  poles  followed  the  run  of  the  barricade  all 
around  the  enclosure,  and  the  lights  were  kept 
burning  throughout  the  entire  night,  making  the 
surrounding  area  as  bright  as  day,  to  prevent  escape 
under  cover  of  darkness.  Such  a  construction 
would  not  have  long  restrained  the  type  of  officers 
who  were  prisoners  of  war  in  Libby  or  Anderson- 
ville.  The  officers  were  fed  better  than  was  to  have 
been  expected  under  the  circumstances,  since  for 
several  months  the  food  supply  from  the  outer 
world  had  been  cut  off  from  the  Transvaal.  They 
were,  indeed,  receiving  every  day  better  rations 
than  the  officers  of  the  Transvaal  army  themselves 
obtained.  Their  quarters  were  comfortable,  each 
officer  having  an  iron  cot  in  the  large  room,  with  an 
ample  supply  of  blankets  and  linen. 

After  obtaining  permission  to  deliver  the  letter  to 
Lieutenant  Kelly,  I  drove  out  to  the  prison.  I  had 
not  been  within  speaking  distance  of  the  enclosure 
three  minutes  when  some  of  the  officers  began  loud 
insults.  They  did  not  wait  to  ascertain  why  I  was 
there;  to  them  I  was  merely  a  "Yank,"  coming 
there  out  of  idle  curiosity.  A  group  gathered 
around  the  entrance  of  the  barricade  and  called  out 


The   Officers 


insultingly  to  me  and  to  the  Boer  officials  who  were 
with  me,  all  of  whom  speak  English  with  but  a 
slight  trace  of  accent,  if  any  at  all.  Some  of  the 
Englishmen  even  went  to  the  extreme  of  tossing 
sticks  and  stones  at  our  party.  I  made  some  com- 
ment on  this  behavior  to  the  commandant  in 
charge  at  the  prison,  and  he  replied: 

"  Oh,  do  not  mind  them;  they  always  do  this 
sort  of  thing  when  any  one  comes  out." 

Their  derisive  remarks  were  particularly  pointed 
towards  Captain  von  Losburg,  a  German-American 
who  fought  gallantly  with  the  Boers,  commanding 
a  battery  of  field  artillery.  Many  of  them  knew 
him  by  name,  and  among  the  English  officers  were 
a  large  number  who  had  personally  surrendered  to 
him,  and  whose  lives  he  had  literally  spared  when 
they  begged  him  to  cease  firing  in  battle ;  and  yet 
they  shouted  insults  to  him  beyond  the  limit  of 
endurance.  Although  his  arm  had  been  shattered 
by  a  shell  and  he  wore  it  in  a  sling,  he  told  these 
officers  that  he  would  gladly  attempt  to  thrash  any 
one  of  them  for  their  language.  He  had  not  brought 
it  upon  himself,  for  he  had  not  said  a  word  before 
they  began  to  vituperate  him ;  in  fact,  the  same 
thing  had  happened  before,  so  he  came  forewarned 
and  endeavored  not  to  heed  their  remarks.  I  was 
thoroughly  amazed,  and  could  not  believe  that  these 
shameless  men  held  the  Queen's  commission;  for 
in  my  estimation  there  is  nothing  more  unutterably 
mean  than  for  a  prisoner  of  war  to  insult  the  man 
from  whom  he  has  begged  his  life.     If  it  had  been 

103 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


only  myself  upon  whom  they  had  poured  their  tor- 
rent of  abuse  it  would  not  have  been  so  strange, 
for  to  them  I  was  an  American  who  had  cast  my 
lot  with  their  enemy;  and  they  did  not  know,  for 
they  did  not  stop  to  inquire,  whether  I  was  fighting 
or  not.  It  was  almost  beneath  scorn,  however,  for 
them  to  abuse  the  man  who  had  so  recently  be- 
friended them. 

When  I  entered  the  prison  enclosure  to  meet 
Lieutenant  Kelly,  I  was  compelled  to  pass  directly 
through  a  large  crowd  of  ofificers  who  had  gathered 
about  the  gate;  as  I  did  so  I  brushed  elbows  with  a 
number  of  them,  but  their  offensive  remarks  con- 
tinued until  I  had  passed  into  the  building  and  out 
of  earshot.  The  commandant  who  was  conducting 
me  asked  some  of  the  oflficers  who  were  standing 
about  for  Lieutenant  Kelly,  saying  that  there  was  a 
letter  awaiting  him.  A  moment  later  an  ofificer  ran 
up  to  me  and  said,  in  a  manner  full  of  excitement 
and  anticipation,  "  I  hear  you  have  a  letter  for 
Kelly.  For  God's  sake  give  it  to  me,  for  I  haven't 
had  a  line  from  home  since  I've  been  in  this  place." 
I  was  about  to  deliver  the  letter  to  him  when  the 
commandant  stopped  him,  saying  gently,  "  I  am 
sorry,  Captain,  but  this  is  for  Lieutenant  Kelly." 

Never  was  keener  disappointment  pictured  on  a 
man's  face,  and  he  staggered  as  though  he  had  been 
struck;  but  after  an  instant,  making  an  efTort  to  re- 
cover himself,  he  half  extended  his  hands  with  a  ges- 
ture denoting  resignation,  shrugged  his  shoulders, 
and  simply  said,  "  Oh,  I'm  sorry  !  "  and  turned  away. 

104 


N  ^  "^ 

t^     ^    42 

•<i    ^ 

•S=<     § 

2 

^1     ^ 

OfL 
iian 

•5  -c  <; 

^ 

•t:    s 

it    '^  t? 

!^  -  ^ 

J: 

§   ^    ^ 

*. 

"^  ^1 

>5i 

^•S  =^ 

■~ 

k 

k 

M      -S       N 

i 

o:) 

Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


A  few  moments  later  I  delivered  the  letter  to 
Colonel  Kelly's  son,  who  was  that  day  probably 
the  happiest  man  in  the  prison.  He  courteously 
invited  me  to  remain  for  a  time  and  meet  some  of 
his  brother  officers;  but  after  having  witnessed  the 
exhibition  near  the  entrance  I  felt  that  I  wanted  to 
get  away  from  the  place  as  soon  as  possible. 

Not  many  days  after,  the  boom  of  the  British 
guns  resounded  in  the  valley;  shells  shrieked 
over  the  prison  and  fell  into  the  little  city;  and 
on  a  day  early  in  June  a  horde  of  khaki  poured 
over  every  mountain  side,  from  every  hill-top,  and 
flowed  through  the  valley  from  every  direction. 
Pretoria  was  in  the  hands  of  the  British,  and  these 
prisoners  were  released  after  many  weary  months  of 
captivity.  There  was  a  wild  scene  of  rejoicing  about 
the  prison,  and  the  captives  embraced  their  rescuers, 
fairly  dancing  for  joy  at  the  regaining  of  their  lib- 
erty. That  afternoon,  in  the  public  square,  when 
Lord  Roberts  raised  the  Union  Jack  over  the  State 
House,  five  of  the  English  officers  came  up  to  me  and 
apologized  for  the  conduct  of  their  companions  in 
captivity  on  the  occasion  of  my  visit  to  their  prison. 
It  was  a  shabby  thing  for  them  to  do,"  said 
one  of  them,  "  but  then  you  know  there  are  bound 
to  be  cads  in  every  lot."  I  could  not  help  think- 
ing, however,  that  there  was  a  singularly  large 
number  of  cads  in  this  particular  lot,  and  also  of  the 
many  tales  that  I  had  heard  from  the  Boers  of  simi- 
lar conduct  on  the  part  of  other  English  officers  when 
they  were  first  captured. 

io6 


The    Officers 


My  friend,  Mr.  Richard  Harding  Davis,  went  to 
South  Africa  in  complete  sympathy  with  the  Brit- 
ish cause,  and  joined  General  Buller's  army,  seeing 
much  of  the  hardest  campaigning  on  the  Natal 
side.  He  was  fully  convinced  as  to  the  rights  of 
the  English  cause,  and  equally  firm  in  his  opinion 
that  the  Boers  were  all  they  had  been  depicted  by 
the  press  of  Great  Britain.  A  little  later  he  had  occa- 
sion to  withdraw  from  the  British  forces  and  trans- 
fer his  observations  to  the  opposite  side.  He  did 
so  with  the  full  consent  of  the  British  authorities, 
and  without  unfriendly  disagreement.  He  had  not 
been  with  the  Afrikanders  very  long  before  he 
was  persuaded  of  their  cause,  seeing  how  grossly 
they  had  been  misrepresented  by  men  who  wrote 
without  knowledge  of  the  true  state  of  affairs,  or 
who  wrote  in  revenge  after  having  been  crossed  in 
some  manner  by  the  Transvaal  authorities.  Mr. 
Davis  saw  that  the  men  of  these  two  South  African 
Republics  were  not  the  dirty,  ignorant,  bewhiskered 
settlers  that  had  been  pictured,  but  that  they  were 
clubmen,  professional  men,  and  business  men  of 
every  description  and  many  nationalities,  as  well  as 
the  typical  farmers  of  the  veldt  known  to  illustrated 
papers,  and  they  were  all  fighting  in  a  just  cause  and 
defending  their  rights  against  territorial  aggression. 
This  was  also,  I  am  safe  in  saying,  the  impression 
of  all  the  correspondents  who  had  the  opportunity 
of  observing  the  war  from  the  Boer  side,  no  matter 
how  warm  had  been  their  early  prejudice  in  favor 
of  Great  Britain. 

107 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


Mr.  Davis  went  to  the  war  as  heartily  prejudiced 
in  favor  of  the  British  officers  as  of  the  cause  of 
England ;  but  because  he  has  had  sufficient  strength 
of  character  and  love  of  fair  play  to  change  his  sen- 
timents and  the  tenor  of  his  writing  completely,  he 
has  been  malignantly  attacked  for  making  the  same 
statement  that  I  have  just  made  regarding  the  per- 
sonal conduct  of  the  British  officers.  Nevertheless, 
this  statement  is  a  fact  that  remains  absolutely  true. 
It  seems  incredible  that  such  demeanor  could  have 
been  manifested,  and  I  am  free  to  confess  that 
had  I  not  been  a  witness  I  would  not  have  be- 
lieved it. 

I  could  not  but  think  of  the  contrast  shown  be- 
tween these  captured  Englishmen  and  the  Spanish 
officers  who  surrendered  during  the  fighting  in  the 
war  with  Spain.  They  were  compelled  by  the  for- 
tunes of  war  to  put  themselves  in  the  keeping  of  the 
officers  of  a  different  nation,  a  different  race;  men 
whom  they  had  been  taught  to  despise  and  for 
whom  they  really  had  a  bitter  hatred.  Yet  they 
could  not  have  been  more  courteous  had  they  been 
guests  instead  of  prisoners.  Admiral  Cervera  and 
the  officers  of  his  fleet  were  for  a  time  quartered  at 
Annapolis,  and  later  in  one  of  the  New  England 
sea-coast  towns,  where  they  enjoyed  many  privileges 
of  recreation  and  liberty.  They  met  our  American 
women  each  day  during  their  term  of  captivity,  and 
their  conduct  showed  most  conclusively  their  gentle 
breeding.  When  they  came  in  direct  meeting  with 
any  of  the  ladies,  they  raised  their  caps  with  grave 

io8 


The    Officers 


Lieutenant-General  N.  A.  Miles,  U.  S.  A. 


respect ;  in  many  cases  they  were  formally  pre- 
sented, and  they  invariably  proved  themselves  the 
gentlemen  of  refinement  that  officers  are  supposed 
to  be.  When  they  met  any  of  our  officers,  they 
never  failed  to  give  the  military  salute,  showing  the 

109 


Blue    Shirt   and   Khaki 


respect  in  which  they  held  their  captors,  notwith- 
standing the  bitterness  in  their  hearts.  Their  de- 
meanor, which  won  the  admiration  of  all  our  people, 
was  in  marked  contrast  to  that  of  some  of  the  Brit- 
ish officers  towards  their  captors. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  South  African  War  I 
was  not  without  a  wish  that  our  government  might 
have  arrived  at  an  open  understanding  with  the 
British  Ministry.  After  their  gracious  attitude 
towards  us  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Spanish-Ameri- 
can War,  it  looked  as  though  Englishmen  might  be 
sincere  in  their  friendship.  One  of  the  titled  staff 
officers  following  Lord  Roberts  was,  to  put  it  very 
mildly,  exceedingly  discourteous  to  one  of  the 
American  correspondents  whose  papers  were  of 
considerable  influence  upon  public  sentiment.  In 
discussing  the  incident  with  one  of  General  French's 
highest  staff  officers,  I  asked  if  it  would  not  have 
been  better  had  this  officer  been  a  trifle  more  diplo- 
matic and,  by  a  little  courtesy,  made  a  friend 
rather  than  an  enemy  of  a  man  whose  writings 
reached  so  many  American  readers.  This  officer's 
answer  struck  the  keynote  of  the  British  sentiment 
when  he  replied: 

"  We  do  not  care  a  tuppenny  damn  what  any 
American  on  earth  thinks  of  us  !  " 

Within  fifteen  minutes  that  same  officer  asked 
whether  America  would  not  stand  by  England  in 
the  event  of  a  European  war. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  English-speaking 
peoples  should  stand  together.     But  my  recent  ex- 


The    Officers 


perience  at  the  seat  of  war,  in  London,  and  at 
other  European  capitals,  has  convinced  me,  against 
my  will,  that  we  must  be  slow  in  having  faith  that 
England  is  our  friend.  If  the  occasion  required  she 
would  not  hesitate  to  point  her  guns  towards  us, 
and  her  friendship  would  be  turned  to  hostility  in 
an  hour.  More  true  friendliness  towards  America 
exists  in  Germany  or  Russia  to-day  than  in  England. 
There  is  a  serious  fallacy  in  the  premise  that  be- 
cause we  speak  the  language  of  England  we  are 
more  closely  allied  to  that  country  than  to  any 
other. 

To  return  from  the  digression,  the  army  ofHcer 
of  to-day,  to  be  a  complete  success,  must  be  ex- 
ceedingly versatile  in  his  accomplishments.  He 
must  not  only  be  a  careful  student  of  the  science  of 
war,  but  he  must  also  be  a  thorough  business  man. 
He  must  not  only  understand  the  tactics  of  attack 
and  defense,  but  he  must  be  able  to  tell  the  quality 
of  hay  and  of  butter.  He  must  understand  weights 
and  measures  as  accurately  as  an  ordinary  shop- 
keeper. Real  war  of  this  day  has  a  great  deal  of 
everything  except  fighting.  Hundreds  of  men  and 
oflficers  go  through  an  entire  campaign  and  never 
hear  a  shot  fired ;  instead,  they  study  columns  of 
figures,  great  sheets  of  warehouse  returns,  and  mani- 
fold way-bills  of  freight  shipments.  They  may 
worry  over  the  price  of  wheat  or  the  weight  of  live 
stock  on  the  hoof,  but  never  over  bullets  or  bayo- 
nets. The  only  orders  they  give  are  written  on 
little  slips  of  "  flimsy,"  such  as  you  see  the  station 

III 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


agent  hand  into  the  cab  to  the  engineer  just  before 
the  train  pulls  out.  The  only  possible  difference 
between  this  sort  of  an  ofificer  and  a  regular  busi- 
ness man  is  that  the  ofificer  wears  a  uniform  and 
works  much  harder  for  less  money. 

During  the  Cuban  campaign,  and,  in  fact,  ever 
since,  the  American  officers  have  been  called  upon 
to  perform  every  duty  that  man  could  do;  and, 
greatly  to  their  credit,  they  have  in  almost  every 
case  performed  their  tasks  creditably.  When  in 
Havana  with  General  Ludlow's  staff,  for  the  first 
five  months  following  the  American  occupation,  I 
had  an  excellent  opportunity  to  see  the  real  worth 
of  the  American  ofificer  outside  of  his  fighting  quali- 
ties. Colonel  Bliss  was  taken  from  his  regiment 
and  made  Collector  of  the  Port,  and  has  performed 
the  duties  of  that  very  peculiar  and  trying  ofifice, 
with  raw  clerks,  incomparably  better  than  it  had 
ever  been  done  before.  Captain  Charles  G.  Treat 
and  Major  Pitcher  sat  on  the  judicial  bench  and 
meted  out  justice  in  the  police  and  criminal  courts. 
Colonel  Black  suddenly  found  himself  a  superin- 
tendent of  streets  and  of  public  works.  Major 
Greble  became  the  custodian  of  the  poor.  In  fact, 
every  ofifice,  from  that  of  the  governor-general 
down,  in  the  entire  government,  was  occupied  by 
an  army  ofificer,  whose  performance  of  the  new  duty 
was  more  thorough  and  practical  than  could  have 
been  expected  from  most  civilians.  Not  only  were 
these  ofificers  called  upon  to  attend  to  all  matters  of 
ordinary  routine,  but  they  were  compelled  to  restore 


/.   General  French  and  staff,  South  Africa. 
2.  American  officers  of  the  Eighth  Infantry 
en  route  to  the  Philippines. 
8 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


destroyed  records,  to  delve  into  the  land  titles  of  the 
island,  and  to  handle  problems  of  a  delicate  nature 
which  would  seem  to  require  the  study  of  a  lifetime. 

Not  only  the  officers  of  the  army,  but  also  the 
officers  of  the  navy,  have  had  charge  of  an  adminis- 
tration difficult  and  complicated;  and  in  every  case 
they  have  met  the  requirements  of  their  unmilitary 
duty.  The  great  majority  of  instances  where  this  ex- 
cellent work  has  been  accomplished  are  hidden  away 
in  the  records  of  the  departments,  and  the  men  will 
never  get  the  slightest  notice  for  what  they  have 
done — because  they  did  it  well. 

On  this  executive  side  of  the  modern  soldier's 
duty  the  British  officers  are  also  abundantly  de- 
serving of  admiration  for  business-like  efficiency. 
The  selections  made  for  civil  administration  in  cap- 
tured territory  were,  on  the  whole,  fortunate.  Es- 
pecial credit  belongs  to  the  Army  Service  Corps, 
through  whose  splendid  management  the  stupend- 
ous task  of  supply  and  transportation  from  the 
ends  of  the  earth  to  the  interior  of  Africa  was 
effected  without  breakdown.  There  is,  however, 
no  comparison  between  the  American  and  the 
British  officers  in  the  knowledge  of  their  strictly 
military  profession.  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
when  their  difference  in  training  is  considered.  One 
has  been  taught  to  be  a  social  success,  while  the 
other  has  been  trained  to  be  a  man  of  tempered  steel, 
being  compelled  to  pass  at  each  promotion  an  exain- 
ination  of  which  not  half  the  officers  of  the  British 
army  could  meet  the  requirements. 

114 


The    Officers 


General  Ian  Hamilton  in  South  Africa. 


Until  it  comes  to  the  critical  test,  however,  the 
British  army  gets  along  just  as  well  as  though  the 
officers  worried  themselves  about  the  fine  principles 
of  the  art  of  war.  It  is  astonishing  how  dependent 
the  officers  are  upon  their  men.  One  morning, 
while  with  General  French's  staff  during  the  opera- 
tions in  South  Africa,  I  was  waiting  for  a  man  to 
put  the  saddle  on  my  horse ;  being  rather  impatient, 

115 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


as  an  action  was  expected,  I  remarked  to  one  of  the 
staff  officers  standing  by  that  I  would  not  wait,  and 
so  picked  up  my  saddle,  swung  it  on  the  horse,  and 
began  to  cinch  it  up.  The  officer  watched  me  in 
an  interested,  half-amused  way  for  a  moment,  and 
then  said,  "  My  Avord  !  but  you're  clever  !"  I 
asked  what  he  meant.  "  Why,"  he  answered,  "  you 
can  saddle  your  own  horse."  "  Most  certainly," 
I  replied;  "can't  you?"  "Well,"  said  he,  "I 
suppose  I  could,  although  I  have  never  tried,  for 
my  man  always  does  that."  And  that  man  was  a 
cavalry  officer. 

A  signal  difference  between  the  English  and 
American  officer  is  that  the  former  cannot  forget 
his  Piccadilly  manner  when  he  is  in  the  field ;  while 
the  latter,  no  matter  whether  he  is  a  regular  or  a 
volunteer,  once  in  the  field  he  is  a  soldier  through 
and  through.  There  are  some  of  this  type  in  the 
British  service,  but  they  are  few  and  far  between. 

One  of  the  most  typical  soldiers  I  have  ever  seen 
in  any  service  was  Colonel  Beech,  now  a  captain  of 
the  Reserve,  who  was  for  about  ten  years  command- 
ing an  Egyptian  regiment  of  cavalry.  He  is  still  a 
young  man,  but  he  has  had  more  experience  in  war 
than  usually  comes  to  any  ten  men.  He  has  seven 
clasps  to  his  Egyptian  medal,  having  been  in  every 
campaign  waged  about  the  Nile  by  the  British  in 
conquering  the  country.  He  is  a  man  of  enormous 
force,  and  perfect  knowledge  of  all  branches  of  mili- 
tary work,  and  is  to-day  a  better  soldier  than  the 
majority  of  generals  who  are  commanding.      He  is 

ii6 


The   Officers 


much  the  same  type  of  man  that  Kitchener  is,  and 
naturally,  as  he  was  trained  in  the  same  school. 

Lord  Roberts  is  also  a  splendid  type  of  the  fine 
soldier,  who  has  solved  his  problems,  with  all  their 
difificulties,  as  a  master  genius  of  war.  His  critics  in 
London  contended  that  he  was  not  severe  enough  in 
his  handling  of  the  people  of  the  two  Republics. 
But  Lord  Roberts  understood  the  people  he  was 
dealing  with,  and  sought  to  use  conciliatory  methods 
on  that  account.  The  present  British  army  and  the 
present  generation  in  England  have  been  accustomed 
to  exceedingly  harsh  measures  against  their  foes, 
who  have  usually  been  of  half-civilized  races;  meas- 
ures which  were  absolutely  necessary  in  order  to 
make  any  impression  upon  the  sort  of  enemy  they 
were  fighting.  The  conditions  during  the  present 
war  are  entirely  different,  and  Lord  Roberts  has  done 
all  that  he  could — all  any  man  could  do — to  bring 
matters  to  a  close.  It  is  deplorable  that  such  a 
magnificent  soldier  should  be  unfairly  criticised  by 
those  who  keep  at  home.  They  do  not  realize  that 
the  prolonging  of  the  war  is  not  the  fault  of  their 
general,  but  is  due  to  the  unconquerable  spirit  of 
the  men  whose  country  they  are  invading. 

The  two  wars  of  the  last  three  years  have  over- 
thrown a  great  many  traditions,  suppositions,  and 
theories  regarding  various  branches  of  military  ser- 
vice, both  in  the  navy  and  the  army;  and  a  new 
collection  of  facts  now  stands  in  their  stead.  The 
American  army  has  been  hampered  by  the  uncer- 
tainty of  the  theory,  while  the  army  of  the  British 

117 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


Empire  has  been 
bound  to  the  tradi- 
tions of  past  centuries 
to  such  a  degree  as 
to  cost  immeasurably 
the  lives  of  thousands 
of  her  bravest  men, 
and  to  cause  a  series 
of  useless  disasters 
and  defeats,  nearly- 
all  of  which  can  be 
laid  almost  directly 
to  incompetent  ofifi- 
cers  of  the  sort  that 

carry  canes  on  active  service  and  have  tea  served 

by  body-servants  every  afternoon. 
An    Australian    war 


Brigadier-General  Fitzhugh  Lee, 
United  States  Army. 


correspondent,  Mr. 
Hales,  has  recently 
given  his  opinion  of 
the  British  army  in  the 
London  Daily  News. 
He  says:  "  I  don't  sup- 
pose Australia  will  ever 
ask  another  English- 
man to  train  her  volun- 
teers. If  there  was  one 
British  institution  your 
colonial  believed  in 
more  than  another  it 
was   the  British  army. 


Major-General  J.  R.  Brooke, 
United  States  A  riny. 
Il8 


The   Officers 


Their  belief  in  the  British  army  is  shattered.  The 
idol  is  broken."  He  describes  the  officers  as  men 
"  with  their  eye-glasses,  their  lisps,  their  hee-haw 
manners,  their  cigarettes,  their  drawling  speech, 
their  offensive  arrogance,  their  astonishing  igno- 
rance, their  supercilious  condescensions,  their  wor- 
ship of  dress,  their  love  of  luxury,  their  appalling 
incompetence. 

"  Many  a  soldier  I've  asked  why  he  scuttled. 
'  Tommy,  lad,  why  did  you  run,  or  why  did  you 
throw  up  your  hands?  '  I'd  say. 

What's  the  use  of  being  killed?'  he'd  answer. 
'  'E  don't  know  where  'e  are,'  meaning  his  officer. 
'I'd  go  anywheres  if  I'd  a  man  to  show  me  the 
way.' 

"  I  believe  if  Kitchener  had  been  chief  in  command 
he'd  have  shot  some  of  those  officers  who  surren- 
dered. If  the  army  is  to  be  reformed  it  is  with  this 
class  of  young  man  they  will  have  to  start.  Let  him 
understand  that  soldiering  is  hard,  stern  business, 
and  not  play.  The  average  officer  hasn't  a  mind 
above  golf  or  cricket.  He  knows  nothing  of  drill. 
He  can't  ride.  The  mounted  infantry  is  a  farce. 
A  Boer's  horse  is  a  part  of  him.  If  there  is  a  body 
of  them,  and  you  watch  them  through  a  glass,  each 
man  is  off,  has  taken  cover  and  led  his  horse  away 
before  you  can  say  '  knife.'  But  watch  a  body  of 
British.  They  have  to  wait  for  orders  before  they 
dismount;  cover  has  to  be  pointed  out  to  them; 
they  have  no  initiative.  Napoleon  got  his  officers 
from  the  ranks.     Who    would  make   such  a   good 

119 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


officer  as  a  sergeant-major  ?  Instead  of  glory 
when  they  come  home — glory  and  guzzling — some 
of  the  officers  should  get  three  years — you  know 
where." 

This  is  what  the  colonials  have  begun  to  think  of 
the  imperial  officers,  and  it  is  a  growing  opinion. 
Let  me  not  be  understood  to  infer  that  there  are  no 
worthy  or  intelligent  officers;  there  are  hundreds  of 
them  who  understand  all  the  details  of  war  thor- 
oughly, but  they  are  tremendously  hampered  by  the 
men  of  the  other  class.  The  British  Empire  has 
not  the  advantage  of  the  great  reserve  of  leaders, 
men  who,  like  General  Fitzhugh  Lee,  General  Joseph 
Wheeler,  and  hundreds  of  others,  have  had  years  of 
experience  in  actual  war.  These  are  the  men  who 
are  the  mainstay  of  a  nation  while  the  younger  gen- 
eration are  getting  their  baptism  of  fire. 


CHAPTER   V. 


American  and  British  Tactics 


American  Officer 
at  Siboney. 


J  HE  Spaniards  might  have  done  bet- 
ter  if   they   had  not    been  so    im- 
pressed with  the  unknown  in    the 
tactics  and  strategy  of  the  Ameri- 
—  can  invaders.     The  Boers  erred  in 

having  too  much  contempt  for  the 
British  methods.  After  their  series 
of  extraordinary  victories  over  su- 
perior forces  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  it  was  a  common  saying  in 
Pretoria,  "  Fifteen  or  twenty  of 
you  men  come  up  here;  a  British 
regiment  is  coming."  The  echo  of 
this  jeer  was  at  the  evacuation,  when  a  burgher  said 
to  me,  as  he  swung  himself  on  his  pony,  "  If  we 
only  had  even  terms,  like  fifteen  or  twenty  to  one, 
we  could  lick  them;  but  when  they  come  forty  to 
one  we  can't  do  anything."  It  is  a  mortal  mistake 
either  to  overestimate  or  underestimate  your  enemy. 
Tactics  and  strategy  extend  into  technical  military 
science,  and  can  be  treated  in  nice  detail  only  by 
expert  students.  The  following  observations  are 
offered  accordingly,  not  from  any  technical  point  of 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


view,  but  as  the  witness  of  one  who  on  the  field  has 
watched  the  operations  of  a  number  of  campaigns, 
and  who  has  tried  to  see  things  not  merely  as  they 
seem  at  the  hour,  but  also  as  they  look  afterwards. 

Tactics  are  not  to  be  confounded  with  strategy. 
Strategy,  speaking  largely,  is  the  planning  of  the 
thing  which  an  army  has  to  do;  tactics  is  the  man- 
ner in  which  an  army  does  it.  The  strategy  of  a 
campaign  may  be  carefully  planned  by  the  wise  men 
of  the  War  Department  or  by  the  commanding  gen- 
eral. It  may  be  infallible  on  paper;  but  if  the  tac- 
tics of  the  general  ofificers  in  the  field  cannot  follow 
the  lines  thus  laid  down,  the  strategy  is  a  drag 
anchor  on  the  success  of  the  army.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  tactics  according  to  which  the  troops  are 
disposed,  moved,  and  fought  may  be  so  unpractical, 
so  poorly  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  the  country 
and  of  the  hostile  force,  that  the  best  conceived 
strategy  will  be  made  foolish. 

In  strategy  the  conditions  of  the  Cuban  and 
African  campaigns  were  so  dissimilar  that  a  com- 
parison is  less  significant  than  in  tactics.  The 
American  War  Department  planned  an  invasion  of 
Cuba  near  Havana.  The  spot  actually  selected  was 
Mariel,  a  few  miles  west  of  Havana.  Here,  under 
cover  of  the  fleet,  a  fortified  camp,  as  a  base  of  oper- 
ations, was  to  be  established,  and  Havana  was  to 
be  invested.  Admiral  Cervera's  fleet,  however,  was 
first  to  be  destroyed,  the  equipment  of  the  army 
gathering  at  Tampa  was  to  be  completed,  and  the 
unhealthy  summer  season  was  to  be  escaped  as  far  as 

122 


American    and    British    Tactics 

possible  by  the  delay.  There  seemed  to  be  no  other 
objective  than  Havana,  for  there  were  over  100,000 
Spanish  troops  behind  fortifications,  the  strength  of 
which  was  never  known  until  they  were  evacuated 
at  last  without  a  blow.  Had  those  formidable  works 
been  attempted,  the  carnage  would  have  been  more 
frightful  than  the  worst  of  the  South  African  battles. 
But  the  unexpected  happened,  and  changed  the 
entire  strategy  of  the  campaign.  Cervera  sailed 
into  Santiago  Harbor  and  refused  to  come  out.  To 
aid  the  navy  in  destroying  him  an  army  corps  was 
despatched  to  Santiago,  and  the  capture  of  that 
stronghold,  together  with  the  annihilation  of  the 
Spanish  fleet,  led  Spain  to  acknowledge  defeat. 
Thus  the  first  strategic  plan,  which  was  both  correct 
and  costly,  was  abandoned  in  a  sudden  exigency  for 
a  diversion  on  a  small  scale,  which  turned  out  to  be 
decisive.  In  all  this  development  of  strategy  there 
was  nothing  histrionic;  there  was  only  an  obvious 
common  sense  which  suggests  the  method  of  sound 
business  men  going  at  a  problem  with  determination 
and  yet  deliberation,  with  economy  and  yet  quick- 
ness of  adaptation.  The  first  blow  of  the  war  at 
Manila  was  dramatic  enough,  but  it  was  also  plain, 
business-like  strategy,  which  had  been  for  silent 
months  in  preparation ;  and  the  final  blow  in  Porto 
Rico  was  likewise  very  good  business.  Upon  the 
whole,  a  survey  of  the  problem  offered  by  the  con- 
ditions of  the  Spanish  war  reveals  a  shrewd  and 
unerring  strategy  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 
On  the  other  hand,  while  we  came  to  respect  the 

123 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


Spanish  in  the  highest  degree  as  brave  and  dutiful 
men,  we  cannot  regard  the  strategy  of  the  Spanish 
War  Ofifice  as  anything  but  puerile.  Spain  saw  the 
war  coming  before  we  did,  and  she  might  have  put 
up  a  far  better  fight  with  no  greater  loss. 

In  overcoming  the  Boers  Great  Britain  had  a 
problem  of  appalling  magnitude.  Her  soldiers 
were  to  be  transported  from  the  ends  of  the  earth 
to  the  Cape,  and  then  to  march  as  far  as  from  New 
York  to  Denver  before  they  could  reach  the  enemy's 
capital.  Their  line  of  communication  was  to  be 
guarded  in  force  at  every  bridge,  trestle,  and  cause- 
way for  the  whole  of  that  immense  distance.  Cape 
Colony,  the  base  of  operations,  was  itself  almost  a 
hostile  country.  Three  besieged  British  garrisons 
were  to  be  relieved,  and  they  required  three  diverg- 
ing armies  of  rescue.  The  keeping  up  of  the  sol- 
diers' spirits  over  such  a  prodigious  march,  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  trains  that  fed  them,  constituted 
a  problem  such  as  no  other  army  of  this  century  has 
had  to  face.  That  the  War  Ofifice  in  London  did 
undertake  it,  and  did  actually  overcome  the  natural 
obstacles  which  were  more  formidable  than  any 
fighting  force  that  could  meet  the  British  in  the  field, 
showed  a  mental  comprehension  and  perspicacity, 
as  well  as  a  perfection  of  organization,  that  has 
properly  engaged  the  admiration  of  every  strategist 
in  Europe.  Whatever  blunders  of  tactics  in  the 
field  were  thrown  up  by  incompetent  ofificers,  there 
was  a  big,  clear  brain  behind  it  all,  that  knew  the 
immense  business,  kept  it  going,  saw  beyond  the 

124 


American   and    British    Tactics 

diverging  armies,  effected  a  concentration,  captured 
the  capitals  of  two  states,  and  accompHshed  military 
results  that  seemed  impossible.  The  strategy  ac- 
complishing all  this  is  of  the  very  first  order,  and 
is  a  power  which  the  warrior  nations  of  the  world 
must  take  into  account. 

In  the  tactics  displayed  by  the  American  and 
British  armies  there  is  naturally  a  more  proper 
ground  for  comparison  than  in  the  strategy  of  the 
two  recent  campaigns.  Strategy  is  necessarily  the 
variable  quantity  depending  on  combinations  of 
conditions;  but  tactics,  as  the  immediate  methods 
of  accomplishing  the  requirements  of  strategy,  are 
to  be  judged  by  the  invariable  gauge  of  practical- 
ness. 

The  tactics  of  the  American  soldier  have  been  the 
outcome  of  generations  of  Indian  wars  and  of  fight- 
ing in  woods  and  mountains.  Our  colonial  fore- 
fathers established  the  general  principles  of  our 
present  fighting  methods  when  they  learned  the  art 
of  warfare  from  the  natives  of  the  wilderness. 
When  Colonel  Washington  saved  General  Brad- 
dock's  defeated  British  regulars  from  annihilation 
by  the  Indians,  he  employed,  in  the  main,  the  same 
tactics  we  now  use.  Washington  implored  the 
British  general  to  dispose  his  men  like  the  pioneer 
volunteers,  as  individual  fighters;  but  the  Royal 
oflficer  disdained  to  take  lessons  from  a  colonial. 
The  British  stubbornness  was  in  the  end  fortunate 
for  the  colonies,  for  the  American  victories  of  the 
War  of  Independence   were   won  by  the  common- 

125 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


sense  tactics  natural  to  men  who  had  handled  long 
rifles  from  their  boyhood,  and  who  had  learned  to 
hide  first  and  shoot  afterwards.  The  slaughter  of  the 
retreat  from  Concord  to  Boston,  the  terrible  losses 
at  Bunker  Hill,  the  defeats  at  Bennington  and  Sara- 
toga, were  the  work  of  men  who  sighted  their  foe 
with  the  same  precision  that  they  aimed  at  wildcats, 
and  took  as  few  chances  as  possible  themselves. 

During  that  war  an  attempt  was  made  by  Wash- 
ington to  introduce  the  Prussian  tactics  into  the 
continental  army.  Baron  Steuben  drilled  the  raw 
frontiersmen  according  to  the  rules  of  the  Great 
Frederick,  and  the  result  was  unquestionably  ad- 
vantageous, as  the  men  gained  military  form  and 
learned  discipline.  Had  the  Boers  submitted  them- 
selves to  such  discipline  and  obedience  to  com- 
manders, had  they  been  content  to  do  more  "  team 
work"  and  less  determined  to  fight  as  individuals, 
they  might  not  have  lost  their  positions.  But  the 
American  continental,  with  all  his  new-fangled  dis- 
cipline, never  forgot  that  he  was  out  to  kill  rather 
than  to  drill ;  he  was  a  hunter,  and  the  pomp  of 
volley  firing  never  led  him  to  waste  powder  and 
ball.  He  kept  his  head,  and  his  finger  stayed  on 
the  trigger  until  the  sights  on  the  rifle  had  a  perfect 
alignment  on  a  red  coat. 

But  while  the  colonial  idea  of  war  has  ever  been 
a  persistent  influence  upon  the  tactics  of  the  army 
of  the  United  States,  the  troops  of  King  George 
sailed  back  to  England  without  an  idea  that  their 
methods  needed  mending.      Their  success  against 

126 


American   and   British    Tactics 

Napoleon  was  not  due  to  reformed  tactics,  but 
because  in  fighting  quaHty,  man  for  man,  they  were 
better  than  the  French,  and  because  they  had  plenty 
of  allies.  Barring  the  Crimea,  the  wars  of  Great 
Britain  since  Waterloo  have  not  been  against  white 
men  until  they  attacked  the  Boers.  Whatever 
adaptations  of  method  were  made  in  fighting  Asiatic 
tribesmen,  the  general  tactics  of  the  army  in  the 
field  seemed  to  experience  no  radical  change  until 
the  world  was  horrified  to  see  General  Buller  charg- 
ing up  kopjes  against  magazine  rifles  and  machine 
guns  in  not  far  from  the  same  formation  in  which 
Howe  had  led  his  men  to  slaughter  on  Bunker 
Hill. 

There  was  a  vast  difference  between  those  South 
African  frontal  attacks  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
and  the  charges  up  the  hill  of  El  Caney  and  San 
Juan  in  Cuba.  The  American  assault  was  sangui- 
nary enough,  and  the  resistance  was  more  desperate 
than  that  offered  by  the  Boers.  But  had  the  blue 
shirts  marched  up  in  columns  of  fours,  or  swept  up 
in  the  old-fashioned  line  of  battle  of  the  Civil  War, 
the  carnage  would  have  turned  to  annihilation. 
They  scattered,  they  abandoned  all  formation,  they 
crawled,  they  sprinted  from  one  poor  shelter  to 
another;  they  knew  what  the  Mauser  rifle  would  do, 
and  they  adapted  their  offensive  tactics  to  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  traditions  of  Waterloo  and 
Balaklava  prevailed  at  Spion  Kop,  Colenso,  and 
along  the  Tugela  and  Modder  rivers.  To  "  get  in 
with  cold  steel"  seemed  to  be  the  ruling  thought 

127 


Blue   Shirt   and    Khaki 


Boer  fighting  men  watching  a  British  flanking 
movement  during  the  battle  of  Pretoria,  while 
building  defenses. 


among  the  officers  during  the  terrible  first  months 
of  the  campaign. 

But  the  lesson  was  learned,  eventually,  that  the 
long-range  rifle,  with  its  incessant  fire  and  the  Boer 
precision  of  aim,  required  a  complete  change  in 
oflfensive  operations.  After  the  disasters  to  Buller 
and  Methuen  the  tactics  developed  into  operations 
more  creditable  from  a  modern  point  of  view.  With 
the  advent  of  Lord  Roberts,  flanking  became  the 
feature  of  the  British  advance.  The  Boer  forces 
.have  never  been  of  sufficient  strength  to  withstand 
a  flanking  movement  by  the  British ;  they  have 
always  been  compelled  to  withdraw  whenever  the 

128 


American    and    British    Tactics 

flanking  columns  reached  a  point  that  would  menace 
their  retreat.  When  the  British  came  into  Pretoria, 
the  officers  and  correspondents  all  complained  of 
what  they  called  lack  of  pluck  in  the  Boer  as  a 
fighter,  as  shown  in  the  operations  north  of  Bloem- 
fontein ;  but  in  no  instance  at  that  part  of  the  cam- 
paign did  they  have  an  opportunity  to  defend 
themselves  against  purely  frontal  attack,  like  those 
in  which  General  Buller  made  himself  conspicuous 
for  his  fatal  old-fashioned  tactics.  Lord  Roberts's 
army  was  in  sufficient  strength,  so  that  he  could 
employ  a  main  force  of  infantry  and  artillery  of 
from  30,000  to  40,000,  and  could  send  out  flanking 
columns,  of  cavalry  and  mounted  infantry  with  a 
few  horse  batteries,  of  about  10,000  each. 

Thus,  when  a  Boer  position  was  developed,  the 
main  advance  took  an  artillery  position  at  long 
range  and  maintained  an  incessant  shell  fire,  while 
the  mounted  troops  were  sent  out  on  either  flank 
in  an  attempt  to  cut  ofl  the  retreat  of  the  burghers. 
As  soon  as  these  flanking  columns  reached  a  certain 
point  from  which  a  junction  of  the  two  forces  might 
be  made,  the  Boers  were  compelled  to  withdraw, 
in  many  cases  without  firing  a  shot.  Sometimes 
this  column  of  cavalry  or  mounted  infantry  would 
be  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  away  on  their  flank;  but 
owing  to  their  admirable  signal  service  and  their 
perfect  scouting  they  were  able  to  keep  informed  as 
to  the  enemy's  whereabouts,  and  at  the  last  mo- 
ment, just  before  a  junction  was  made  to  cut  off 
their  retreat,  they  would  slip  through.  Cronje's 
9  129 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


capture  at  Paardeburg  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he 
misjudged  the  movements  of  the  troops  on  his 
flank.  His  officers  begged  him  to  retire,  but  he 
insisted  on  holding  the  position  one  day  longer. 
That  delay  of  one  day  proved  to  be  fatal;  on  the 
next  morning  he  was  surrounded  by  about  40,000 
of  the  enemy,  with  overwhelming  batteries.  After 
twelve  days  of  the  most  heroic  defense,  when  his 
ammunition  was  expended,  and  the  action  of  the 
heat  on  the  dead  bodies  in  his  laager  made  it  intol- 
erable, he  was  compelled  to  surrender.  That  was 
the  only  time  the  British  succeeded  in  capturing  any 
large  number  by  the  flanking  movement,  although 
they  always  succeeded  in  preventing  any  serious 
opposition  to  their  advance. 

The  country  which  has  been  the  scene  of  opera- 
tions in  South  Africa  seemed  designed  by  nature  for 
defensive  operations.  In  the  Orange  Free  State  the 
veldt  stretches  away  for  miles  and  miles,  broken  by 
single  kopjes  and  short  ranges  of  mountains,  from 
which  a  sentinel  can  note  the  approach  of  a  hostile 
force  in  the  far  distance.  In  the  Transvaal,  although 
the  country  is  more  broken,  it  is  easy  to  watch  the 
enemy's  approach;  and  with  the  excellent  signal 
service  of  the  Boers  it  has  been  practically  impos- 
sible for  ail  advancing  column  to  surprise  the  de- 
fending force. 

The  drifts  or  fords  of  the  rivers  were  the  most 
serious  difificulty  that  had  to  be  overcome  by  the 
British  in  transportation  of  their  wagon-trains  and 
artillery.      By  long  action  of  the  water  in  the  rivers 

130 


American   and   British    Tactics 


British  soldiers  pulling  army  zvdgons  across 
a  drift. 

they  have  been  cut  deep,  so  that  the  descent  from 
the  ordinary  level  of  the  country  to  the  bed  of  the 
stream  is  at  most  places  very  sharp.  Strangely, 
there  was  no  attempt,  except  at  the  railway  bridges, 
to  improve  in  any  manner  these  difificult  fords,  al- 
though in  many  cases  an  hour's  work  by  a  company 
of  engineers,  or  by  any  kind  of  a  company,  would 
have  saved  many  hours'  delay  in  the  transportation. 
I  stood  at  one  ford  for  over  three  hours,  watching 
the  passage  of  a  wagon-train  which  might  have  been 
taken  over  in  a  single  hour  had  the  bed  of  the  river 
been  cleared  of  stones  and  rocks,  as  would  have 
been  done  by  the  first  American  officer  to  pass  that 
way.  The  water  was  not  more  than  eighteen  inches 
deep,  and  the  obstructing  rocks  could  easily  have 
been  picked  up  by  hand,  and  a  way  cleared  by  a 
dozen  men.     Instead  of  that,  a  long  wagon-train  was 

131 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


taken  over,  with  every  wheel  in  the  train  in  jeop- 
ardy, and  with  a  total  wrecking  of  two  wagons.  At 
some  drifts  the  descent  into  the  river  and  the  ascent 
of  the  opposite  bank  was  so  steep  that  the  animals 
had  to  be  assisted  by  a  company  of  men  with  a  long 
rope  attached  to  the  wagon,  to  ease  it  down  and 
haul  it  out.  This  was  the  regular  custom  at  a 
drift  within  twelve  miles  of  Pretoria,  where  there 
was  every  facility  for  bridging,  and  where  a  com- 
pany of  sappers  could  have  constructed  a  span  in  a 
few  hours  that  would  have  stood  during  the  rest  of 
the  occupation  of  the  district. 

At  the  foot  of  San  Juan  hill,  in  Cuba,  there  was  a 
ford  of  a  river  where  the  bottom  was  perfectly  hard 
and  smooth,  and  after  the  barbed  wire  entangle- 
ments laid  by  the  Spaniards  had  been  removed,  it 
could  have  been  used  without  bridging  and  without 
any  serious  loss  of  time.  But  as  the  river  banks 
were  steep  the  engineers  quickly  threw  a  span  across, 
using  the  thick  bamboo  which  abounds  in  the  jungle ; 
and  this  adequate  bridge  allowed  the  men  to  be  sent 
forward  on  the  advance  in  better  time  and  in  better 
condition.  Similar  tactics  could  have  been  em- 
ployed at  many  passages  in  South  Africa  that  would 
have  greatly  assisted  in  the  operations,  but  for  some 
reason,  and  at  great  cost,  they  were  neglected. 

In  the  use  of  the  balloon  the  British  showed  high 
proficiency  and  effectiveness  throughout  the  entire 
campaign.  The  huge  silken  bag  was  attached  to 
a  heavy  wagon,  and  was  drawn,  fully  inflated,  by  a 
span  of  thirty  or  forty  oxen.     The  successful  use  of 

132 


American   and   British    Tactics 


Boer  artillci-ists  ivaitiiig  unacr  siieli  jirc  for  the 
British  advance. 


this  auxihary  was  faciHtated  by  the  open  nature 
of  the  country.  The  information  obtained  thus  was 
exceedingly  valuable  to  Lord  Roberts  during  his 
advance  towards  Pretoria.  Not  only,  however,  is 
it  a  material  advantage  to  a  force  to  possess  this 
direct  method  of  getting  information,  it  also  has  a 
certain  moral  effect  upon  the  enemy  that  is  in  itself 
powerful.  This  is  somewhat  similar  to  the  effect 
that  a  heavy  artillery  fire  has  upon  well-intrenched 
infantry;  the  shells  are  not  apt  to  hurt  anybody — 
indeed,  a  heavy  artillery  bombardment  of  field  in- 
trenchments  is  usually  as  harmless  as  a  political 
pyrotechnic  display,  except  for  the  trying  effect  on 
the  imagination  and  nerves  of  the  men  who  are 
being  fired  at.  But  the  Boers  were  bothered  more 
by  the  balloon  than  by  ballooning  shells. 

One  day  I  was  lying  in  the  Boer  trenches  under 
an  exceedingly  heavy  artillery  fire,  which  the  burgh- 

133 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


ers  did  not  mind  more  than  a  hailstorm.  They  were 
well  under  cover  of  the  schanzes  which  they  had 
built  along  the  ridge  of  the  kopje,  and  they  were 
calmly  awaiting  the  British  advance,  smoking  and 
chatting  in  nonchalant  fashion,  without  a  trace  of 
nervousness.  Suddenly  some  one  spied  the  balloon 
as  it  slowly  rose  in  front  of  us,  and  its  apparition 
created  a  perceptible  consternation  for  some  mo- 
ments. This  agitation  was  not  fear,  for  the  Boers 
knew  perfectly  well  that  danger  was  no  more  immi- 
nent than  before;  but  the  thought  that  the  enemy 
from  whom  they  were  concealing  themselves  could 
see  them  as  perfectly  as  though  the  mountain  were 
not  there  certainly  got  on  their  nerves. 

The  work  of  the  balloon  corps  was  valuable  in 
that  it  could  discover  to  the  artillery  the  position 
not  only  of  the  fighting  line,  but  also  of  the  reserves 
and  of  the  horses,  and  of  the  line  of  retreat.  The 
mid-air  observer  before  Pretoria  found  and  pointed 
out  the  range  of  the  railway  line  leading  towards 
Middleburg,  by  which  the  retreat  was  being  made, 
so  that  the  naval  guns  began  to  shell  the  line, 
hoping  to  break  it  by  a  lucky  shot,  or  to  disable  a 
train.  As  it  happened,  however,  the  trajectories 
did  not  strike  the  narrow  lines  of  rails,  but  they  did 
cause  the  American  Consul,  Mr.  Hay,  some  incon- 
venience, as  they  filled  his  consulate  full  of  holes, 
though  he  kept  on  calmly  at  his  work;  finally  a 
sympathetic  neighbor  sent  over  his  compliments  and 
suggested  that  they  have  tea  together  in  the  lee  of 
his  house ;  everybody  else  in  that  vicinity  had  fled. 

134 


American   and    British    Tactics 

But  if  the  balloon  was  an  important  feature  of 
tactics  in  South  Africa,  it  cannot  be  said  that  the 
Americans  in  Cuba  made  a  brilliant  success  of  it. 
The  balloon  before  Santiago  proved  a  boomerang, 
since  the  officer  in  charge  was  a  trifle  too  enthusi- 
astic and  too  anxious  to  keep  his  toy  on  the  firing 
line.  The  advance  towards  San  Juan  hill  was  made 
through  a  jungle  through  which  only  one  road  led 
by  which  the  troops  could  move  forward.  Just 
below  the  hill  along  the  military  crest  of  which 
the  Spanish  trenches  were  built,  the  undergrowth 
stopped,  leaving  an  open  area  several  hundred  yards 
wide  across  which  the  final  charge  was  to  be  made. 
The  regiments  moved  forward  along  this  narrow 
road,  and  deployed  as  best  they  could  through  the 
undergrowth.  The  reserves  were  held  at  a  fork  of 
the  river,  about  half  a  mile  back,  huddled  together 
in  a  very  small  space.  Just  in  front  of  the  reserves 
was  an  open  ground.  Thinking  only  of  the  bal- 
loon's convenience,  but  thoughtless  of  the  danger  to 
the  reserves,  the  signal-service  men  planted  their  ap- 
paratus here  and  began  to  inflate  the  mounting  bag. 

As  soon  as  the  balloon  was  prepared  it  was 
ordered  into  the  air,  and  instantly  it  became  the 
target  of  the  Spanish  artillerists.  It  was  hit  several 
times,  though  without  apparent  effect;  but  the 
shells  that  missed  it  broke  into  the  crowds  of  the 
reserves.  Shell  after  shell  found  that  unseen  target, 
killing  and  wounding  large  numbers.  Thus  the 
Spaniards  inflicted  their  greatest  injury  upon  our 
troops  without  knowing  they  were  doing  so.     Aides 

135 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


were  rushed  forward  to  get  the  fatal  thing  some- 
where else;  but  it  was  already  winged  and  sinking 
to  the  earth.  After  that  melancholy  fiasco  it  was 
folded  away  and  not  used  again.  This  unfortunate 
blunder  should  not,  however,  be  permitted  to  dis- 
credit the  use  of  the  balloon  in  our  army.  The 
notable  success  of  the  British  in  operating  it,  and  its 
helpfulness  to  them,  amply  demonstrate  its  practi- 
cality. 

The  tactics  of  Lord  Roberts  at  the  capture  of 
Pretoria  were  badly  at  fault.  The  taking  of  that 
city  was  attended  by  a  glaring  military  blunder  un- 
expected from  that  great  leader.  It  seemed  to  be 
the  commander's  only  idea  to  get  into  the  town 
and  to  occupy  it,  rather  than  to  cut  off  the  enemy's 
retreat  and  capture  him.  The  advance  was  made 
along  the  road  from  Johannesburg,  the  main  force 
being  composed  almost  entirely  of  infantry  and 
artillery.  The  customary  flanking  movements  were 
commenced.  Hutton's  division  of  mounted  infantry 
swung  around  one  flank  for  a  short  distance. 
French's  cavalry  division  started  around  the  other 
flank,  but  did  not  get  very  far  before  the  fighting 
ceased.  It  happened  that  General  Botha  had  not 
defended  Pretoria,  and  the  action  that  lasted  during 
the  entire  day  of  June  4th  was  merely  a  rear-guard 
action,  to  cover  the  retirement  of  the  main  force. 
Consequently,  no  matter  what  course  Lord  Roberts 
might  have  pursued,  he  could  not  have  captured 
more  than  1,500  prisoners.  But  the  British  com- 
mander did  not  know  the  state  of  affairs  in  Pretoria, 

136 


•v/vit'VU 


Blue    Shirt   and   Khaki 


and  was  led  to  believe  that  he  would  be  opposed  by 
the  concentrated  commandoes  of  General  Botha  and 
General  de  la  Key.  Had  such  been  the  case  his 
tactics  would  have  allowed  the  escape  of  the  entire 
force,  as  they  did  allow  the  slipping  away  of  the 
rear  guard.  Had  the  field  marshal  delayed  the  at- 
tack of  the  main  body  for  another  day,  or  even 
two  days,  and  allowed  his  mounted  troops  to  get 
well  into  the  rear,  he  could  have  cut  off  the  retreat 
of  the  burghers.  Instead,  his  premature  frontal 
attack  in  force  compelled  them  to  retire  under  the 
cover  of  darkness  long  before  their  flanks  were  even 
threatened. 

The  miscarriage  seemed  like  another  case  of 
British  superciliousness  towards  their  foe,  which 
has  repeatedly  cost  them  so  dear.  After  Bloemfon- 
tein  the  Boers  had  been  kept  so  on  the  run  that,  to 
some  minds,  the  employment  of  costly  strategy  on 
the  part  of  the  British  might  seem  needless.  They 
were  in  such  tremendous  force  compared  to  the 
number  of  Boers  opposing  them  that  they  rolled 
down  over  the  veldt,  a  flood  of  khaki,  irresistible  in 
power.  If  they  were  opposed  at  one  point  of  the 
advance,  they  merely  kept  on  marching  either  side 
of  the  threatened  position,  until  the  flanking  move- 
ment compelled  the  Boers  to  withdraw.  The  Brit- 
ish did  not  seem  to  attempt  actually  surrounding 
and  cutting  off  the  retreat  of  the  Boers,  but  were 
content  with  merely  driving  them  back.  The  inade- 
quacy of  this  plan  was  clearly  manifest  after  Pre- 
toria had  been  reached,  for  the  force  of  their  enemy 

138 


American    and   British    Tactics 

was  not  in  the  least  broken.  On  the  contrary,  the 
burghers  showed  conckisively  that  they  were  the 
strategic  masters  of  the  situation.  Nothing  but 
their  masterly  movements  saved  them  from  defeat 
and  capture  early  in  the  war;  and  after  Pretoria, 
when  the  London  press  began  to  call  the  Boers 
guerrillas,  wandering  brigands,  and  outlaws,  there 
was  just  as  clever  strategy  shown  in  the  manner  in 
which  the  Transvaal  and  Orange  Free  State  leaders 
handled  their  men  as  though  a  mighty  army  had 
been  at  their  command. 

I  asked  General  Botha  why  he  did  not  concentrate 
all  the  forces  in  the  field,  so  that  he  could  make 
some  decided  stands.  He  answered:  "  We  have 
talked  the  matter  well  over,  and  have  made  a  defi- 
nite form  of  campaign  for  the  remaining  portion  of 
the  war.  Should  we  gather  all  our  fighting  men 
together  into  one  force  we  could  undoubtedly  make 
some  very  pretty  fights;  but  there  would  be  only 
a  few  of  them,  for  with  the  overwhelming  force 
against  us  they  could  soon  surround  any  position 
we  could  take,  and  there  would  be  an  end  to  our 
cause.  As  it  is,  we  will  split  up  into  four  or  five 
commands,  continue  operations  independently  of 
each  other,  but  keep  absolutely  in  touch,  and  con- 
fer on  the  general  plan  of  campaign  at  all  times.  It 
took  your  colonial  troops  seven  years  of  that  sort 
of  work  to  gain  independence  against  the  same 
country,  and  we  can  do  the  same  thing.  We 
can  fight  seven  years  without  being  crushed,  and 
should    we    gain    our    independence    at    the    end 

139 


Blue   Shirt   and    Khaki 


of  that  time  we  would  consider  the  time  well 
spent." 

General  Botha  pointed  to  the  facts  that  his  troops 
were  in  better  condition  and  had  greater  resources 
than  Washington's  ever  had;  that  there  was  more 
accord  among  his  burghers  than  there  was  among 
the  American  colonial  troops;  and  that,  more  im- 
portant still,  the  entire  population  of  the  country 
was  in  absolute  sympathy  with  the  cause.  This 
shows  Avhy  a  campaign  can  develop  into  what  the 
British  call  guerrilla  warfare  and  still  be  a  part  of  a 
splendid  strategical  plan.  In  my  mind,  the  opera- 
tions in  South  Africa  cannot  be  called  guerrilla  war- 
fare so  long  as  the  Boer  commands  of  3,000  or 
4,000  men  move  on  regular  marches,  with  heavy 
and  light  artillery,  baggage-trains,  and  assisted  by 
signal  corps.  From  these  commands  small  detach- 
ments are  sent  out  for  the  various  duties  of  blowing 
up  a  bridge  or  a  culvert,  attacking  a  force  suffi- 
ciently small  in  number,  or  capturing  a  supply 
train.  All  of  these  operations  are  done  under  a 
system  of  regular  order,  and  are  not,  as  the  British 
reports  would  lead  us  to  believe,  the  work  of  mere 
bands  of  robbers  or  outlaws. 

The  strategy  shown  in  these  movements,  and,  in 
the  main,  the  tactics  and  their  execution,  have 
been  of  a  superlative  order,  although  not  developed 
from  military  text-books,  but  rather  from  the  nat- 
ural brain  of  a  lion-hunter.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  more  of  the  movements  have  not  been 
chronicled,     so     that    the     military    world     might 

140 


American    and    British    Tactics 

have  been   benefited  by  a  study  of   these    opera- 
tions. 

The  facts  that  at  last  the  British  overwhelmed  the 
Boers  with  their  inexhaustible  supplies  of  troops, 
and  that  the  general  strategy  of  the  campaign 
proved  successful,  do  not  justify  their  careless 
tactics  in  the  routine  of  the  campaign.  If  matched 
against  a  larger  and  more  aggressive  army  than 
that  of  the  Boers,  this  characteristic  carelessness 
might  have  been  very  fatal. 

Here  is  a  curious  instance  of  this  inexplicable 
heedlessness.  The  first  important  engagement  after 
the  occupation  of  Pretoria  was  the  battle  of  Diamond 
Hill,  about  sixteen  miles  north  of  the  capital,  and 
it  was  fought  by  Lieutenant-General  French,  who 
commanded  the  cavalry  division.  His  command 
had  been  very  much  weakened  by  drafts  upon  it  for 
duty  about  army  headquarters  in  Pretoria,  so  that 
he  did  not  have  more  than  3,000  men  at  his  call. 
This  cavalry  command,  with  a  few  guns,  went  out 
to  ascertain  the  position  taken  by  the  retreating 
burghers.  They  found  them  strongly  entrenched 
on  a  range  of  hills  commanding  the  valley  through 
which  the  British  were  to  advance.  The  battle 
lasted  three  days,  the  fighting  going  on  all  that 
time.  General  French  told  me,  on  the  third  night, 
when  we  were  at  dinner,  that  it  had  been  the  hard- 
est fight  he  had  had  during  the  campaign,  and  that 
he  doubted  whether  he  could  hold  the  position 
until  noon  the  next  day,  when  Lord  Roberts  had 
promised  him  reenforcements. 

141 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


General  French  was  surrounded  on  three  sides 
with  what  he  said  was  an  overwhelming  force  of  the 
enemy,  and  yet  he  did  not  station  any  pickets  or 
outposts  even  on  his  headquarters  camp.  Captain 
Beech  brought  a  wagon-train  into  the  center  of  the 
camp,  through  the  lines,  without  so  much  as  a  chal- 
lenge. The  bitter  cold  of  the  high  veldt  kept  me 
awake  that  night,  and  about  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning  I  heard  horsemen  riding  through  the  lines. 
They  took  no  especial  care  to  keep  their  movements 
secret,  so  I  imagined  them  to  be  friends,  but  lay 
waiting  for  the  expected  challenge.  None  came, 
and  the  party  of  horse  rode  nearer  and  nearer  until 
it  came  quite  up  to  General  French's  headquarters, 
near  a  little  farmhouse.  Dawn  was  just  breaking, 
and  in  the  gray  light  I  recognized  Captain  Beech  as 
he  rode  up  to  headquarters.  Captain  Beech  is  an 
old  campaigner  in  experience  if  not  in  years,  and 
such  negligence  of  the  most  ordinary  and  primary 
needs  of  campaigning  seemed  to  him  outrageous. 
He  expressed  himself  with  highly-colored  vehe- 
mence. 

"  Why,"  he  exclaimed,  "  the  Boers  could  ride  in 
here  and  take  the  whole  outfit,  for  there  isn't  an 
outpost  on  the  camp ;  and  you  are  the  only  one  wlio 
heard  me  coming  on  with  a  whole  wagon-train." 

It  staggers  an  American  to  comprehend  such  a 
situation;  and  if  the  Boers  had  had  a  Httle  energy 
that  night  they  might  easily  have  taken  the  whole 
command.  It  is  an  instinct  of  animals  and  birds  to 
have  their  pickets.     When  a  herd  of  deer  is  grazing 

142 


American   and   British    Tactics 

on  the  plains,  a  few  are  always  left  on  the  outskirts 
to  watch  for  danger;  when  a  flock  of  birds  is  feeding 
on  the  ground,  sentries  are  left  in  the  trees;  but 
the  ordinary  British  officer  does  not  seem  to  share 
that  useful  instinct.  I  asked  one  of  General  French's 
staff  if  it  was  the  custom  of  all  commands  to  ignore 
the  necessity  of  placing  outposts,  and  he  said: 

"  Oh,  what's  the  use  ?  They  never  attack  at 
night." 

The  fact  that  they  do  not  make  night  attacks 
and  are  not  more  keenly  alive  to  such  possi- 
bilities does  not  justify  the  British  neglect  of  out- 
posts and  pickets.  I  have  ridden  in  and  out  of 
Pretoria  at  all  times  of  day  and  night  without  once 
being  challenged,  although  it  was  well  known  at 
headquarters  that  the  residents  of  the  town  were 
communicating  with  the  Boer  commanders  every 
day.  A  little  Afrikander  girl  of  sixteen  told  me  as 
a  jolly  joke  that  she  had  ridden  out  on  her  bicycle 
to  see  her  father,  who  had  a  command  in  the  hills 
within  five  miles  of  the  center  of  Pretoria.  She 
said  that  she  rode  part  of  the  way  with  a  mounted 
picket,  with  whom  she  chatted  as  they  rode  along. 
An  order  was  issued  by  the  military  governor  that 
every  one  who  wished  to  ride  a  bicycle  or  a  horse, 
or  to  drive  in  a  carriage,  must  get  a  permit  to  do 
so ;  and  the  fair  young  patriot  said  that  after  this 
it  was  easier  than  ever,  for  she  used  the  permit  as  a 
pass,  and  none  of  the  Tommies  ever  knew  the 
difference. 

The  conclusion  of  my  observations  is  that  in 
143 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


every-day  tactics  the  British  officer  still  commits 
the  radical  error  of  taking  too  much  for  granted. 
This  is  almost  a  racial  error,  for  it  has  always  been 
his  besetting  sin  to  despise  his  foe  and  to  be  sur- 
prised by  clever  tricks.  Herein  he  is  thoroughly 
unlike  the  American  officer,  as  well  as  unlike  his 
own  allies  from  Canada  and  Australia.  The  nimble 
wit  of  the  newer  countries  and  the  expert  training 
of  the  West  Pointer  lead  both  Americans  and  colo- 
nials to  keep  thinking  what  the  enemy  may  be 
doing  and  to  take  no  bravado  chances. 

After  these  criticisms  of  certain  features  of  Brit- 
ish tactics  it  is  a  pleasure  to  recall  a  piece  of  work 
by  the  Royal  Horse  Artillery  on  the  last  day  of  that 
battle,  which  would  win  the  respect  and  admira- 
tion of  every  American  soldier.  Diamond  Hill  is  a 
very  high  kopje,  rising  directly  out  of  a  plain,  and 
from  the  beginning  of  the  rise  it  is  fully  half  a  mile 
to  the  summit,  the  latter  part  of  the  ascent  being 
very  steep.  The  sides  of  the  kopje  are  covered 
with  huge  rocks,  some  of  them  ten  feet  high,  and 
standing  in  every  conceivable  position,  just  as  they 
rested  at  the  time  of  a  great  upheaval  that  broke 
the  earth's  strata.  It  was  almost  impossible  to 
walk  over  the  rocks,  they  were  so  rough  and  jagged, 
yet  the  officers  and  men  of  this  battery  brought 
their  guns  to  the  very  top  of  the  kopje  and  com- 
manded the  entire  valley.  It  was  a  magnificent 
thing  to  do,  and  almost  incredible;  I  never  before 
saw  soldiers  bring  to  pass  such  an  apparently  impos- 
sible attempt.     But  it  evidently  was  not  an  unusual 

144 


1.  The  Uttpicturesqueness  of  Modern  War.  In  the  range  of  this 
photograph  of  the  battle  of  Diamond  Hill  the  hardest  fighting  is  going 
on.  Tiuenty  cannon  and  3,CMX)  rifles  are  firing,  and  two  regiments 
are  charging  ;  hut  no  more  could  be  seen  than  is  shown  above. 

2,  A  difficult  kopje  j  two  hutidred  men  are  hiding  behind  the  rocks. 

lo  145 


Blue   Shirt   and   Khaki 


achievement  in  that  campaign  of  titanic  labors,  for 
it  occasioned  no  comment. 

Perhaps  no  better  illustration  can  be  given  of  the 
new  military  conditions  which  modern  strategy  and 
tactics  have  to  meet  than  a  picture  that  shows 
how  an  actual  battlefield  looks.  During  the  third 
day  the  fighting  had  been  very  severe,  and  in  one 
place  in  the  line  the  British  had  been  compelled 
to  charge  a  position  several  times  in  order  to  pre- 
vent being  completely  surrounded.  There  were 
eight  Maxim  one-pounder  machine  guns,  several 
Colts'  machine  guns,  and  a  large  number  of  heavy 
guns  in  action  during  the  entire  day,  and  at  one 
time  they  were  all  concentrated  at  one  point.  I 
took  a  photograph,  which  shows  better  than  any- 
thing else  how  modern  warfare  has  lost  all  pictur- 
esque features.  This  picture  shows  nothing  but 
a  placid  landscape  that  might  have  been  taken 
on  any  farm,  instead  of  which  thousands  of  men 
were  fighting  desperately.  At  the  time  the  photo- 
graph was  taken  there  was  a  charge  going  on,  but 
the  khaki  clothing  makes  the  men  invisible  to  the 
camera.  Bullets  were  singing  across  the  plain  like 
sheets  of  rain,  and  shells  were  screeching  overhead ; 
along  the  ridge  there  was  a  constant  crackling  of 
small  arms;  but  the  landscape  itself  was  as  quiet  as 
that  of  a  New  Enc^Iand  farm. 


146 


CHAPTER   Vr. 


Feeding  the  Two  Armies 


HE  most  important  work  of  an  army 
is  that  of  the   commissary   depart- 
ment, which  is  the  one  division 
of  labor  that  receives  the  least 
credit  and  no  glory.     An  army 
might  get  along  without  its  en- 
gineer corps,  or  its  signal  ser- 
vice;  it   could    at    least  march 
without  guns;  but   it   cannot 
move  a  foot  without  its  full 
supply  of  food. 

A  few  days  before  Santiago 
fell,  General  Shafter  wired 
the  War  Department  that  he 
thouglit  it  likely  he  would 
be  compelled  to  withdraw.  The  despatch  was 
made  public  in  the  press;  to  withdraw  meant  a 
retreat,  and  instantly  a  wave  of  indignation  arose 
against  General  Shafter.  He  was  blamed  for 
being  weak;  he  was  blamed  for  allowing  himself 
to  be  drawn  into  a  trap;  he  was  blamed  for 
everything  that  the  criticising  public  could  think 
of  in  their  resentment.     That   the  American  army 

147 


U.  S.  Officer  prorid- 
ing  for  feeding  the 
poor. 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


should  retreat  was  maddening  to  the  people,  for 
they  could  see  no  reason  for  such  action,  except 
the  power  of  the  enemy  against  them.  It  was  not 
the  enemy,  however,  that  threatened  to  drive  the 
Fifth  Army  Corps  back,  nor  was  it  the  weakness  of 
the  commanding  general — it  was  a  rain  storm.  The 
columns  had  pushed  forward  toward  Santiago  as 
fast  as  possible,  and  so  long  as  the  line  of  commu- 
nication between  the  front  and  the  base  of  supplies 
at  Siboney  was  open  all  went  well.  But  suddenly 
it  rained,  and  then  all  was  different.  The  road  was 
eight  miles  of  swimming  mud,  flanked  by  impossible 
jungle;  a  wheel  could  not  turn  in  it,  and  the  pack 
animals  could  flounder  through  it  but  slowly.  Hence 
the  supply  of  rations  at  the  front  began  to  dwindle 
away,  and  General  Shafter  decided  that  he  must 
move  his  army  toward  the  food  supply,  as  the  food 
supply  could  not  move  toward  the  army. 

Lord  Roberts  was  confronted  by  the  same  diffi- 
culty in  South  Africa,  and  he  met  it  in  a  masterly 
manner.  The  army  supply  corps  that  handles  the 
commissary  department  has  been  a  marvel  of  effi- 
ciency. The  work  of  supplying  the  British  army 
in  the  field  in  South  Africa  has  been  done  much 
better  than  the  same  work  was  done  by  the  Ameri- 
can force  at  Tampa  or  in  Cuba;  and  had  it  not  been 
for  the  brilliant  management  of  Colonel  (later  Gen- 
eral) John  F.  Weston,  who  was  in  command  at  the 
base  of  supplies,  General  Shafter  would  certainly 
have  been  compelled  to  withdraw  from  the  positions 
that  had  been  won  after  hard-fought  battles.     Colo- 

148 


Feeding   the    Two   Armies 

nel  Weston  ignored  all  forms  of  the  regular  routine  ; 
his  one  object  was  to  feed  the  men  on  the  fighting 
line,  and  feed  them  he  did. 

One  day  I  heard  one  of  his  ofificers  complaining 
that  he  could  not  get  some  of  his  papers  receipted, 
showing  a  delivery  of  rations  to  a  certain  brigade, 
and  Weston  answered,  in  a  characteristic  manner, 
"  Damn  the  receipts  !  You  give  rations  to  any- 
body who  wants  them,  and  after  it's  all  over  I'll 
receipt  for  the  whole  bunch;  and  if  the  government 
doesn't  like  it  the  government  can  have  me — but 
the  men  won't  go  hungry." 

Every  time  I  had  an  opportunity  of  going  to  the 
supply  depot  I  secured  all  the  tobacco  I  could  buy 
to  give  to  the  men  at  the  front.  It  was  an  article 
worth  more  than  its  weight  in  gold,  and  there  was 
no  greater  pleasure  than  to  have  the  chance  of 
making  some  of  the  men  happy.  There  was  a  reg- 
ulation against  allowing  one  person  to  purchase 
more  than  a  pound  of  tobacco  at  one  time.  I  asked 
permission  of  Colonel  Weston  to  be  allowed  to  buy 
more;  but  he  was  loth  to  sell  it  to  me  until  I  ex- 
plained that  I  did  not  use  it  myself,  but  wanted  it 
for  the  men.  After  my  explanation  he  would  not 
sell  it  at  all,  but  gave  me  all  I  could  carry.  During 
this  time  the  government  held  his  receipt  for  all  this 
tobacco,  and  it  really  was  equivalent  to  so  much 
money.  Colonel  Weston's  contempt  for  govern- 
mental red  tape  saved  hundreds  of  lives  in  the  San- 
tiago campaign ;  and  instead  of  asking  for  an 
accounting  for  the  lack  of  receipts,  the  Washington 

149 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


government  made  him  the  head  of  the  subsistence 
department,  where  he  has  done  the  best  work  in 
rationing  our  army  at  home  and  in  our  island  pos- 
sessions that  has  ever  been  known. 

Before  the  change  in  the  head  of  the  commissary 
department  was  made,  things  were  not  so  well  done. 
We  cannot  do  better  than  to  look  toward  England 
for  some  valuable  points  in  the  conduct  of  this 
department,  especially  in  the  matter  of  army  sup- 
plies for  the  warmer  or  tropical  countries.  They 
have  had  more  experience  than  we  in  feeding  their 
forces  on  foreign  service,  and  consequently  they 
have  brought  the  business  to  a  state  that  borders 
on  perfection.  In  strategy,  fighting,  and  the  move- 
ment of  troops  they  have  been  found  lacking;  but 
one  of  the  things  they  have  done  well  is  the  feed- 
ing of  their  men. 

It  is  a  colossal  business  to  supply  over  200,000 
healthy  men,  with  field  and  mountain  appetites, 
when  they  are  7,000  miles  away  from  home,  and 
where  there  is  an  active  enemy  seeking  to  destroy 
their  communications.  It  would  be  a  great  task  to 
feed  that  number  of  men  at  home,  where  there  is 
no  difificulty  in  transportation;  but  when  a  month's 
time  must  be  occupied  for  the  delivery  of  the  food 
stuffs,  the  problem  becomes  most  serious. 

The  quartermaster's  department  of  the  British 
army  has  to  provide  the  rations  for  the  men  and 
forage  for  the  animals;  besides  this,  it  is  called  upon 
to  furnish  the  transportation  of  the  food  stufTs,  as 
well  as  of  the  army  itself.     The  paymaster's  work  is 

150 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


also  included  in  this  department.  After  the  quar- 
termaster's department  has  put  the  supplies  on  the 
ground,  it  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  Army  Service 
Corps  to  deliver  it  to  the  various  commands  in  the 
field. 

The  Army  Service  Corps  is  one  of  the  features  of 
the  British  army  which  American  authorities  would 
do  well  to  study.  It  is  an  armed  and  drilled  com- 
missary corps,  of  about  4,000  officers  and  men, 
which  handles  the  entire  work  of  that  branch;  but 
it  is  a  fighting  corps  as  well,  when  occasion  requires. 
This  last  feature  is  of  great  value,  in  that  it  does 
away  with  the  necessity  of  a  detachment  of  men 
being  drawn  off  as  a  special  guard  for  every  wagon 
or  two.  The  Army  Service  Corps  acts  as  its  own 
convoy  where  only  an  ordinary  one  is  required. 
When  on  home  duty,  it  presents  a  spirited  appear- 
ance, with  a  military  aspect  fully  equal  to  that  of 
the  artillery.  Its  wagons  and  mounts  are  of  the 
same  type  as  those  of  the  artillery,  and  its  general 
equipment  is  similar. 

This  corps  is  one  of  the  few  departments  that  has 
done  well  its  entire  duty  during  the  South  African 
campaign.  The  reason  is  obvious — there  was  no 
theory  regarding  the  appetite  of  a  robust  soldier; 
it  was  a  solemn  fact,  just  as  evident  at  Aldershot  or 
on  Salisbury  Plain  as  in  the  field.  It  has  been  just 
as  real  in  Egypt  or  India  during  the  past  years  of 
peace  as  at  the  present  moment  at  the  Cape.  The 
British  soldier  ate  as  heartily  when  he  was  fighting 
fanatic  dervishes  as  when  he  fights  the  Boer;  con- 

152 


Feeding   the    Two   Armies 

sequently  that  department  was  not  compelled  on 
the  field  to  test  antiquated  methods  or  to  experi- 
ment with  new  theories,  only  to  find  them  wrong. 

The  system  that  England  works  upon  is  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  base  of  supplies  at  home,  situated 
at  Woolwich,  where  the  government  supply  depot 
was  established  for  the  especial  purpose  of  meeting 
the  demand  of  an  emergency  in  case  of  war.  At 
this  depot  supplies  have  been  kept  ready  for  ship- 
ment to  the  front  at  a  moment's  notice.  They  are 
all  packed  in  cases,  the  heaviest  of  which  weigh  one 
hundred  pounds,  while  the  majority  weigh  from 
thirty  to  eighty  pounds.  These  cases  are  of  conve- 
nient size  for  rapid  transportation  in  the  field,  and 
they  are  so  packed  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  open 
them  until  they  are  issued  to  the  consumers. 

Cape  Town  was  made  the  secondary,  or  field  base, 
where  all  supplies  are  shipped  as  fast  as  they  can  be 
loaded  on  ships;  and  it  is  necessary  to  keep  an 
extra  supply  of  rations  and  forage  sufficient  for  the 
consumption  of  every  man  and  animal  on  the  field 
for  three  months,  at  least,  and  as  much  more  as  it 
is  possible  to  accumulate  above  the  amount  used. 
Should  this  reserve  stock  be  called  upon,  the  men 
would  be  put  on  shorter  rations  until  it  was  an  as- 
sured fact  that  the  delay  in  the  arrival  of  fresh  sup- 
plies was  overcome. 

The  reserve  stock  consists  of  5,000  tons  of  canned 
beef,  5,000  tons  of  white  flour,  5,000  tons  of  hard 
bread,  90  tons  of  coffee,  50  tons  of  tea,  780  tons  of 
sugar,  150  tons  of  salt,    10  tons  of  pepper,    1,500 

153 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


tons  of  jam,  500,000  gallons  of  rum,  40,000  tons  of 
oats,  40,000  tons  of  corn  and  bran,  40,000  tons  of 
hay.  None  of  this  may  be  used  unless  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  and  all  other  supplies  fail.  Besides 
this  supply  at  the  Cape,  an  intermediate  depot  was 
established  at  de  Aar  junction,  which  is  about  half 
way  to  Pretoria;  others  were  at  Bloemfontein  and 
Johannesburg,  and  the  last  one  was  established  at 
Pretoria. 

My  first  idea  when  looking  through  these  sup- 
ply stations  was  of  the  huge  part  America  played  in 
the  South  African  war.  One  might  well  imagine 
he  was  in  the  commissary  department  of  the  United 
States  army,  as  nearly  all  the  supplies  bear  the  mark 
of  American  production.  While  I  was  at  the  Ger- 
man army  manoeuvres  I  observed  the  same  thing — 
American  farmers  were  keeping  the  German  army 
alive;  and  my  first  sight  of  anything  that  pertained 
to  war  in  the  South  African  struggle  was  a  great 
pile  of  cases  of  the  familiar  Chicago  canned  beef, 
such  as  we  used  in  Cuba,  on  the  wharf  at  Baira,  in 
Portuguese  South  Africa.  I  think  the  English  army 
could  be  trailed  from  Cape  Town  to  Middleburg  by 
empty  cans  of  what  they  call  "  bully  beef,"  each 
one  with  the  Chicago  or  Kansas  City  label. 

"  I  didn't  know  America  was  so  large,"  said  an 
ofificer  to  me  one  day,  "  until  I  saw  so  much  tinned 
meat  down  here." 

That  same  "  tinned  meat  "  from  Chicago  will  do 
more  to  command  the  respect  of  every  European 
nation  towards  the  United  States  than  all  the  battle- 

154 


Feeding    the    Two   Armies 


i 

Ei^ 

/i  ^rtj-i"  of  supplies  at  de  Aar  Junction. 

ships  we  can  float.  They  have  reaHzed  what  it 
would  mean  to  attempt  to  feed  an  army  without  the 
assistance  of  America. 

Many  shiploads  of  supplies  came  directly  from 
American  ports  to  the  Cape,  not  only  of  food  stuffs, 
but  also  of  horses,  mules,  and  cattle.  It  involves 
more  to  supply  the  animals  of  an  army  than  to  feed 
the  men  themselves,  for  the  quantity  that  is  used  by 
a  mule,  horse,  or  ox  is  much  greater  than  that 
required  by  a  man.  Each  horse  has  to  be  given 
twelve  pounds  of  hay,  twelve  pounds  of  oats,  and  a 
pound  of  bran  every  day.  The  mules  receive  ten 
pounds  of  oats,  six  pounds  of  hay,  and  one  pound 
of  bran.  The  oxen  are  usually  turned  out  to  graze, 
and  find  sufficient  food  in  the  veldt  grass;  when  that 
is  not  abundant,  they  receive  about  eight  pounds  o^ 
hay,  but  no  grain.  A  large  amount  of  "  mealies,"  as 
American  corn  is  called,  is  used  in  lieu  of  oats  or 
other  grain,  although  in  many  cases  the  horses  will 
not  eat  it,  being  unaccustomed  to  it.  It  is  always 
best  to  feed  the  animals  on  the  product  of  the 
country  from  which  they  come,  if  possible,  as  they 
do  not  understand  and  will  not  eat  strange  grain. 

155 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


The  native  pony  which  I  rode  in  South  Africa  would 
not  touch  the  plentiful  oats,  although  at  one  time 
he  was  without  proper  forage  for  several  days. 

The  use  of  spirituous  liquors  has  been  established 
in  the  British  army  many  years,  and  the  issuance  is 
still  carried  on  in  the  same  manner  that  it  was  years 
ago.  I  do  not  think  there  is  as  much  tobacco  used 
in  the  British  army  as  in  ours,  although  I  have 
nothing  but  personal  observation  to  judge  by  in  the 
supposition;  but  the  Britisher  wants  his  "  grog " 
in  the  army  quite  the  same  as  in  the  navy.  The 
issue  is  about  half  a  gill  of  rum  per  day.  The  qual- 
ity used  is  of  the  very  best  known,  and  it  comes 
from  a  stock  bought  by  the  government  in  Jamaica 
about  forty  years  ago.  The  last  of  that  old  supply 
is  now  being  used.  The  use  of  liquor  as  a  part  of 
the  ration  in  the  British  army  is  almost  as  old  as  the 
army  itself,  and  although  it  has  been  fought  by  the 
prohibitionists  for  several  years,  it  still  continues. 
There  is  not  enough  issued  to  cause  any  intoxica- 
tion, and  the  use  of  the  amount  which  the  men  re- 
ceive undoubtedly  works  effectively  against  drinking 
to  excess.  A  man  naturally  wants  what  he  cannot 
have,  and  if  he  is  denied  the  use  of  liquor  he  im- 
mediately craves  it,  and  to  satisfy  that  craving  he 
takes  too  much.  While  in  the  field  or  at  Cape 
Town  I  saw  but  one  soldier  under  the  influence  of 
liquor;  this  occurred  in  Pretoria  on  the  day  of  the 
formal  occupation ;  he  had  celebrated  the  event  too 
enthusiastically. 

There  has  been  a  great  outcry  in  the  United 
156 


Feeding   the    Two   Armies 

States  against  the  army  "  canteen  "  as  having  a  bad 
influence  over  the  soldier.  If  the  people  who  rail  at 
this  establishment  will  look  at  it  in  a  proper  light 
they  will  see  that  instead  of  increasing  drunkenness 
it  has  a  direct  tendency  to  decrease  it.  Some  men 
drink  to  excess  whenever  they  get  a  chance,  and 
such  men  always  will  do  this,  for  alcoholism  is  a 
disease,  and  its  victims  will  always  find  the  oppor- 
tunity to  get  drink.  Others  are  quite  satisfied  with 
a  single  drink;  but  they  want  that  one,  and  they 
will  have  it.  If  they  cannot  find  it  at  the  post  they 
will  go  where  they  can  obtain  it,  and  that  means 
in  some  saloon,  where  the  temptation  to  take  more 
is  far  greater  than  at  their  own  canteen.  Not 
only  is  the  desire  less  in  the  post  canteen,  but 
should  a  man  become  intoxicated  in  the  least  degree 
no  more  would  be  served  him ;  while  if  he  were  in  a 
public  house  he  might  keep  on  drinking  as  long  as 
he  could  stand  up  against  the  bar,  or  as  long  as  his 
money  held  out. 

In  the  British  army  the  use  of  large  quantities  of 
jam  is  supposed  to  prevent,  to  a  degree,  the  craving 
for  liquor,  and  consequently  it  is  issued  to  the  men 
regularly.  Tea  is  also  a  part  of  the  British  ration 
that  is  never  used  in  the  American  army,  as  our 
men  do  not  want  it.  The  American  soldier  laughs 
when  he  hears  of  British  troops  in  the  field  being 
served  with  afternoon  tea;  but  its  use  is  so  univer- 
sal in  the  British  Empire  that  the  men  crave  it  as 
our  men  crave  coffee. 

The  British  soldier  in  the  field  is  better  fed  than 
157 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


the  American,  and  he  has  more  variety;  but  to 
obtain  that  variety  of  food  costs  time,  and  in  conse- 
quence the  troops  move  much  slower  than  ours  do. 

The  rations  of  the  South  African  army  were  in 
marked  contrast  to  those  of  the  Fifth  Army  Corps 
during  the  Santiago  campaign.  We  got  bacon,  hard 
bread,  and  coffee,  and  very  seldom  anything  else. 
Occasionally  tomatoes  in  cans  were  issued  to  us,  and 
sometimes  sugar ;  but  the  three  staple  articles  just 
mentioned  were  all  we  were  sure  of,  and  all  we 
wanted.  The  volunteers  suffered  somewhat,  because 
they  did  not  know  how  to  cook  these  simple  rations 
sc  as  to  make  them  acceptable;  but  the  regular, 
whc  had  lived  on  them  many  times  in  the  West, 
was  satisfied  and  asked  nothing  more.  The  toma- 
toes were  issued  in  gallon  cans,  and  naturally  were 
exceedingly  difficult  to  carry  if  the  regiment  was 
moving  rapidly. 

I  recall  that  on  the  day  when  the  battle  of  Gua- 
simas  opened.  General  McKibbin's  brigade  was  en- 
camped near  Siboney,  and  we  were  ordered  to  go 
into  action  on  General  Young's  right,  as  it  was 
known  the  enemy  was  in  front  of  us  in  force,  and 
it  looked  as  though  a  general  battle  would  ensue. 
The  brigade  was  ordered  on  the  road  just  as  some 
rations  had  been  issued,  and  in  the  issue  were  these 
large  cans  of  tomatoes.  The  men  could  not  carry 
them,  and  so  were  compelled  to  abandon  them.  I 
waited  until  the  regiments  had  moved  out,  and  then 
watched  a  crowd  of  Cuban  "  soldiers  "  gatheriiig  up 
the  cans,  as  well  as  a  lot  of  blankets  that  some  of 

158 


Feeding   the    Two   Armies 

the  men  had  thrown  away.  I  allowed  the  Cubans 
to  gather  a  goodly  lot,  and  then  ordered  them  to 
carry  the  stuff  on  the  march  forward,  and  later  in 
the  day,  when  the  regiments  had  halted,  our  men 
got  their  rations  back.  It  is  almost  useless  to  issue 
food  in  large  packages  to  men  on  the  march,  for 
they  cannot  possibly  carry  them,  and  the  food  is 
wasted.  It  is  not  the  custom  of  our  commissary 
department  to  do  this,  but  for  that  Cuban  campaign 
the  government  bought  all  the  food  supplies  that 
could  be  found,  regardless  of  the  covering. 

The  further  task  of  putting  rations  on  the  firing 
line,  or  at  the  extreme  front,  is  a  prodigious  diffi- 
culty. The  railroad  is  used  as  far  as  possible,  and 
then  wagons  and  pack  animals  are  brought  into  play. 
In  South  Africa  the  transportation  was  exceedingly 
crude.  All  sorts  of  wagons  and  carts  were  brought 
into  service;  everything  that  rolled  on  wheels  was 
promptly  commandeered.  Ox-wagons,  buckboards. 
Cape  carts,  grocery  wagons,  and  even  private  car- 
riages were  a  part  of  the  long  line  of  vehicles.  The 
ox-carts  and  great  trek-wagons  were  chiefly  used 
for  commissary  supplies,  but  they  were  so  heavy 
as  to  be  unsuitable  for  the  work.  An  ox-cart  was 
drawn  by  a  span  of  sixteen  or  twenty  animals,  while 
the  army  wagon  was  drawn  by  ten  mules.  This 
was  almost  twice  the  number  necessary,  and  the 
superfluous  stock  greatly  delayed  the  operations,  for 
it  could  not  carry  much  more  than  its  own  feed. 
Those  mules  were  much  smaller  than  our  big  army 
mules,  but  six  would  have  been  ample  for  any  ordi- 

159 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


nary  load.  When  more  are  used,  there  is  a  great 
amount  of  energy  lost.  Pack-mules  were  almost 
unknown,  and  they  are  never  used  in  South  Africa 
as  they  are  always  used  in  the  army  of  the  United 
States.  One  of  our  trains  of  forty  mules  can  carry 
much  more  than  forty  mules  can  pull,  and  with  far 
greater  ease.  The  pack-train,  moreover,  can  go 
anywhere,  over  any  sort  of  roads  or  treks,  even 
into  the  firing  line  itself,  with  rations  or  ammuni- 
tion; while  a  wagon  must  have  a  good  road  or  it 
will  be  compelled  to  turn  back. 

In  our  trains  the  mules  are  not  bridled,  but  are 
taught  to  follow  the  lead  of  a  "  bell-horse,"  an 
animal  with  a  bell  around  its  neck,  and  either  led 
or  ridden  by  one  of  the  packers.  Wherever  that 
bell  goes,  the  other  mules  will  follow,  regardless  of 
obstructions  or  anything  else.  In  my  judgment, 
nothing  can  compare  with  the  pack-mule  for  trans- 
portation in  the  field.  Wagons  are  useful  as  long 
as  there  are  good,  hard  roads  to  follow;  but  ene- 
mies have  an  unpleasant  way  of  going  away  from 
the  roads  into  hills  and  mountains,  or  across  track- 
less plains,  and  there  is  where  the  mule  is  not  merely 
valuable,  but  absolutely  essential.  These  pack  ani- 
mals can  keep  up,  not  only  with  the  infantry,  but 
also  with  fast-moving  bodies  of  mounted  troops. 
The  "  packers"  of  the  American  army  are  civilian 
attaches,  but  they  are  a  very  essential  part  of  the 
force.  They  are  nearly  all  men  from  the  West,  and 
are  generally  of  the  cow-puncher  stamp,  afraid  of 
nothing,    not    even    of   work.      These   packers   did 

i6o 


Feeding   the    Two   Armies 

some  of  the  most  heroic  work  during  the  San- 
tiago campaign,  although  they  never  got  any 
credit  for  it,  and  are  seldom  mentioned  in  de- 
spatches. They  are  to  the  army  what  the  stokers 
are  to  the  navy — the  very  means  of  life;  yet 
bound  to  go  on  doing  that  hard,  undistinguished 
work,  with  no  applause  from  the  great  unthinking 
public.  They  are  never  seen  in  parades  and 
reviews,  yet  to  them  belongs  a  great  portion  of 
the  credit  for  these  displays.  The  packers  of  the 
army  are  accustomed  to  go  into  the  very  firing  line 
to  deliver  ammunition.  It  is  indeed  a  memorable 
sight  to  witness  these  men  in  action,  and  to  watch 
their  indifference  to  the  danger  that  is  singing  about 
their  heads.  Very  picturesque  are  these  Western 
packers,  with  their  happy  abandon  and  their  obliv- 
ion to  worry.  They  wear  no  uniform,  they  have  no 
regiment  to  be  proud  of;  they  are  just  plain,  good- 
natured,  hard-working  civilians  of  the  great  West. 
The  only  arms  they  carry  are  their  own  Colts,  just 
as  they  carried  them  in  New  Mexico  or  Montana. 

One  day,  when  the  fighting  was  at  its  height  in 
front  of  Santiago,  a  pack-train  came  up  to  the  line 
with  a  welcome  supply  of  rations  and  ammunition ; 
and  after  the  boxes  had  been  dumped  on  the 
ground,  and  the  men  were  prying  the  lids  off  with 
their  bayonets,  one  of  the  packers  strolled  up  to 
the  trenches  and  drawled,  "  I  ain't  had  a  crack  at 
a  greaser  since  I  left  the  reservation,  so  here  goes." 
He  stepped  out  on  the  embankment,  in  full  view  of 
the  enemy,  and  emptied  his  six-shooter  towards  the 
II  i6i 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


Att  improvised  commissariat  cart  in  South 
Africa. 


little  low  city  in  front  of  us.  As  the  Spanish 
trenches  at  this  point  Avere  fully  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
away,  his  pistol  did  not  produce  a  panic  among 
them,  but  he  enjoyed  his  prank. 

"  Well,  I  reckon  I  must  have  got  four  out  o'  that 
six,"  he  remarked,  as  he  began  to  reload. 

"  You'd  better  come  down  out  of  that,  or  one  of 
the  other  two  will  get  you,"  called  a  soldier. 

"  Get  me  !  "  he  said  contemptuously;  "  I  never 
see  a  greaser  yet  that  could  hit  a  bunch  o'  steers  in 
a  corral." 

He  was  becoming  the  target  of  the  entire  Spanish 
162 


Feeding   the    Two   Armies 

line,  and  drawing  their  fire;  so  an  officer  ordered 
him  to  get  down,  and  told  him  at  the  same  time 
that  if  he  wanted  to  shoot  he  might  borrow  a 
rifle. 

"No,"  he  replied;  "I  ain't  got  no  time  to 
monkey  'round  here,  for  I  got  to  get  some  grub  up, 
or  you-all  don't  eat."  And  off  he  went,  telling 
the  other  packers  how  he  had  "  done  up  half  a 
dozen  greasers." 

If  the  British  army  had  had  a  goodly  number  of 
Kentucky  mules,  the  big  sixteen-hands  sort,  instead 
of  the  little  donkey  wagons  they  did  have,  they 
would  have  saved  several  months  of  their  campaign- 
ing. One  of  those  big  mules  can  carry  all  day  as 
heavy  a  load  as  he  can  stand  under;  then  if  you 
remove  the  pack-saddle  and  let  him  have  a  roll,  lie 
is  fresh  enough  to  keep  going  all  night.  Not  only 
are  they  equal  to  heavy  loads  and  long  hours,  but 
they  can  go  longer  than  a  horse  without  forage. 

The  British  army  has  an  emergency  ration  that  is 
said  to  be  very  useful  in  case  of  extreme  need. 
Each  man  and  officer  carries  one  in  his  haversack, 
and  the  men  are  not  allowed  to  open  them,  except 
by  order  of  an  officer,  or  in  case  of  absolute  need 
when  no  officer  is  near.  This  emergency  ration  con- 
sists of  a  tin  can,  shaped  something  like  a  pocket- 
book,  five  inches  long,  two  and  a  half  inches  wide, 
and  an  inch  and  a  half  thick.  It  is  divided  into  two 
compartments,  one  containing  four  ounces  of  con- 
centrated beef,  known  as  pemmican.  The  whole 
weighs  about  twelve  ounces,  and  the  label  on  the 

163 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


case  informs  the  soldier  that  the  ration  is  calculated 
to  maintain  strength  for  thirty-six  hours  if  eaten  in 
small  quantities  at  a  time.  I  never  ate  one  of  them, 
but  I  have  heard  some  of  those  who  have  say  that 
they  could  eat  half  a  dozen  of  them  and  still  feel 
empty.  They  do  not  satisfy  hunger,  but  merely 
sustain  strength. 

Another  ration,  prepared  by  a  firm  in  England, 
consists  of  a  species  of  stew  of  beef,  potatoes,  car- 
rots, and  gravy;  it  makes  an  exceedingly  good 
dinner,  one  can  being  sufificient  for  two  men  for  one 
meal.  It  may  be  heated  easily  in  the  can  in  a  few 
moments,  as  it  is  already  cooked,  and  it  could,  if 
occasion  demanded,  be  eaten  cold.  General  Weston 
has  been  sending  a  similar  ration  to  the  soldiers  in 
the  Philippines,  put  up  in  convenient  shape,  with 
rounded  corners  to  the  can  so  that  it  may  be  carried 
in  the  pocket. 

In  many  respects  the  usual  rations  of  the  British 
and  American  armies  are  very  similar,  but  the  latter 
army  uses  much  more  bacon  than  the  former,  which 
uses  much  more  fresh  beef. 

The  British  military  authorities  always  study  out 
a  ration  for  a  particular  campaign,  and  then  issue 
it  according  to  the  different  climates  and  zones. 
Major  Louis  L.  Seamen,  who  has  seen  a  great  deal 
of  military  service  in  every  part  of  the  world,  has 
devoted  much  study  to  this  subject,  and  he  claims 
that  there  is  nothing  more  important  in  army 
subsistence  than  this  adapting  the  ration  to  the 
temperature. 

164 


Feeding    the  Two   Armies 

The  ration   adopted   for  the  campaign  in  Soutli 
Africa  is : 

1  lb.  canned  meat.  -gV   gal.    rum,    4   oz.    jam,    three 
4  oz.  bacon,  as   a   change    from  times  each  week. 

meat.  2  oz.  condensed  pea  soup. 

2  oz.  cheese.  2  oz.  rice  instead  of  i  oz.  dried 
I  lb.  hardtack  instead  of  i^  lb.  vegetables. 

bread.  i  oz.  dried  vegetables. 

I  oz.  chocolate  instead  of  tea  or  i  oz.  lime  juice. 

coffee.  I  lb.  fresh  meat. 

Yi  oz.  coffee,  ^  oz.  tea.  \%  lb.  bread. 

3  oz.  sugar,    ^   oz.   salt,    ^  oz. 

pepper. 

The  ration  of  the  United  States  army  is : 


20  oz.  fresh  beef  or  mutton. 

12  oz.  pork  or  bacon. 

22  oz.  salt  meat,  when  no  fresh 
meat  is  issued. 

14  oz.  dried  fish,  when  no  fresh 
meat  is  issued. 

18  oz.  pickled  or  fresh  fish  in- 
stead of  fresh  meat. 

18  oz.  soft  bread,  or 

18  oz.  hard  bread,  or 

20  oz.  corn  meal. 

W  oz.  baking  powder,  when 
necessary  in  field  to  bake 
bread. 

^  oz.  beans  or  peas,  or  if  oz. 
rice  or  hominy. 


16 


oz.  potatoes,  or  12^  oz.  pota- 
toes and  3^  oz.  onions  ;  or 

oz.  potatoes  and  4J  oz.  canned 
tomatoes  ;  or 

oz.  fresh  vegetables. 

oz.  coffee,  green  ;  or  1/4-  oz. 
coffee,  roasted  ;  or 

oz.  tea. 

oz,  sugar,  or  \%  gill  molasses 
or  cane  syrup. 

gill  vinegar. 

oz.  salt. 

oz.  (black)  pepper. 

oz.  soap. 

oz,  candles,  when  oil  is  not 
furnished. 


The  American  army  also  has  what  is  called  a 
travel  ration,  issued  on  any  transportation  where  it 
is  impossible  to  cook  more  than  coffee.     It  is  also 

165 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


often    used   on   quick  marches,  as  it  is  a  short  but 
sufficient  allowance.     It  consists  of: 

I  lb.  hard  bread.  ^-^  lb.  coffee. 

^  lb.  canned  beef.  -^g  lb.  sugar. 

■^  lb.   baked  beans  or  tomatoes 
(canned). 

It  was  this  ration  that  we  used  throughout  the 
Santiago  campaign,  save  that  most  of  the  time  we 
had  bacon,  instead  of  canned  beef,  and  we  very 
seldom  got  the  beans  or  tomatoes.  I  found  it 
adequate  for  the  entire  time,  even  with  all  the  hard 
work  we  went  through.  No  one  found  fault  with  it, 
except  some  of  the  volunteers,  and  they  were  dis- 
satisfied with  the  ration  because  they  did  not  under- 
stand how  to  use  it  to  advantage.  A  regular  soldier 
can  make  about  fourteen  distinct  dishes  with  that 
ration,  each  one  very  palatable. 

There  was  considerable  trouble  over  the  com- 
plaints raised  by  the  volunteers,  and  it  developed 
into  the  "  meat  scandal"  that  has  furnished  jests 
for  the  comic  papers  ever  since;  but  these  difficul- 
ties are  bound  to  appear  in  every  campaign.  I  did 
see  some  meat  in  Cuba  that  was  not  fit  to  eat;  but, 
on  the  whole,  the  meat  supply  was  very  good  when 
one  considers  the  haste  in  which  it  was  purchased 
and  the  climate  where  it  was  used. 

England  has  had  her  difficulties  in  the  same  form, 
but  her  people  do  not  make  such  an  outcry  as  was 
raised  in  our  newspapers.  Early  in  the  South 
African  war  the  troopship  Arawa  sailed  from 
Southampton,  and  before  she  got  to  sea  it  was  dis- 

i66 


Feeding   the    Two   Armies 


covered  that  her  cargo  of  meat  was  spoiled.  She 
put  back,  and  the  entire  lot,  amounting  to  fifteen 
thousand  pounds  of  English  and  colonial  beef  and 
mutton,  was  dumped  out  on  the  dock — a  "  very- 
unwholesome  mess,"  The  mutton  was  green,  and 
in  a  bad  condition  ;  as  soon  as  the  port  health 
officer  saw  it  he  ordered  it  to  be  taken  to  sea 
and  dumped,  which  was  promptly  done.  Had 
this  occurred  in  America  during  the  Spanish  war 
the  newspapers  would  probably  have  demanded  the 
instant  removal  of  a  few  officials.  In  England, 
however,  the  only  comment  in  the  papers  was  that 
"  the  incident  was  the  one  topic  of  conversation  at 
the  docks  yesterday,  and  military  men  were  highly 
indignant  about  it." 

Before  closing  the  subject  of  rations  it  is  neces- 
sary to  speak  of  the  commissary  department  of  the 
Boer  forces,  if  I  may  use  this  phrase  regarding  a 
department  that  does  not  exist.  Among  the  Boers 
each  man  is  his  own  supply  corps,  finding  his 
rations  wherever  he  can,  and  in  what  quantity  he 
can.  It  is  marvelous  what  a  small  amount  these 
burghers  can  subsist  upon  while  carrying  on  active 
operations.  During  an  action  near  Pretoria  I  was 
lying  on  top  of  a  kopje,  watching  the  advance  of  the 
British  forces,  Avhile  they  kept  up  a  heavy  shell  fire. 
About  one  o'clock  I  felt  hungry,  so  I  opened  my 
haversack  and  took  out  a  loaf  of  bread  and  a  piece 
of  beef  weighing  perhaps  a  couple  of  pounds. 
Near  me  was  an  old,  white-bearded  Boer,  who  must 
have  been  at  least  seventy-five.     After  I   had  been 

167 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


eating  for  a  few  moments  I  noticed  that  he  had  no 
haversack,  and  so  asked  him  if  he  would  not  have  a 
bit  of  the  bread. 

"  Have  you  plenty  ?  "  he  asked  before  accepting. 

I  said  that  I  had,  so  he  took  the  loaf  and  broke 
off  a  very  small  piece,  handing  the  remaining  por- 
tion back.  I  told  him  that  he  might  keep  it  all,  and 
also  gave  him  some  meat.  As  soon  as  he  had  as- 
sured himself  that  I  had  more,  he  called  to  a  couple 
of  boys  near  by,  and  they  came  over,  accompanied 
by  other  boys.  He  divided  the  loaf  and  meat,  and  it 
served  for  the  full  day's  rations  for  five  fighting  men. 

"  I  had  some  bread  yesterday,"  said  the  old  man, 
half  apologetically,  "  but  I  have  not  had  time  to 
get  any  to-day." 

"  Will  you  have  a  drink  ?"  I  inquired,  as  I  un- 
slung  my  canteen. 

"Water?"  he  queried,  as  though  afraid  I  was 
going  to  offer  him  something  stronger. 

The  British  people  at  home  have  taken  comfort 
in  assuming  that,  as  no  supplies  can  get  to  the  Boers, 
the  war  will  be  brought  to  a  speedy  end.  Deluded 
people !  So  long  as  there  is  a  trek-ox  and  a  sack  of 
mealies  in  the  Transvaal  the  Boers  will  be  suffi- 
ciently supplied  to  carry  on  the  war.  They  carry 
no  store  wagons,  they  issue  no  rations;  but  occa- 
sionally an  ox  is  slaughtered,  and  each  man  hangs 
up  a  piece  of  the  beef  until  it  is  dried.  He  sticks 
that  into  his  pocket,  with  some  bread  made  of  corn, 
if  he  cannot  get  better,  and  he  is  perfectly  content. 

I  asked  General  de  la  Rey  where  he  expected  to  get 

I68 


Feeding   the    Two    Armies 


;•  luith  three  months'  provisions. 


his  supphes  after  he  left  Pretoria,  and  he  remarked 
quietly,  as  if  without  humorous  intention,  "  Oh,  the 
English  are  bringing  in  enough  for  both  armies." 

He  had  warrant,  too ;  for  I  know  of  many  cases 
where,  as  the  supplies  of  a  command  were  getting 
low,  they  went  out  and  captured  a  wagon-train  or  a 
supply-train  on  the  railroad,  and  replenished  their 
larders.  General  de  Wet  has  kept  his  commands 
for  many  months  in  rations,  clothing,  and  other 
necessaries  of  war  from  the  supplies  of  the  enemy. 

When  the  Boers  went  into  a  town,  they  never 
commandeered  anything  without  paying  cash  for  it, 
and  in  this  matter  they  were  far  too  lenient.     I  was 

169 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


sitting  in  the  Transvaal  Hotel  in  Pretoria  one  even- 
ing when  a  command  of  about  forty  men  rode  up. 
Tiie  commandant  came  into  the  office  and  asked 
the  proprietor  if  he  would  give  the  men  a  meal; 
they  had  been  marching  since  early  morning  with- 
out anything  to  eat.  The  man  in  charge  (the  pro- 
prietor, being  an  Englishman,  had  fled  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war)  asked  if  they  could  pay  for  the 
entertainment.  The  officer  replied  that  they  did 
not  have  enough  money  to  pay  the  regular  price, 
but  that  he  would  give  all  they  had  and  would  pay 
the  rest  later.  The  hotel  man  told  him  roughly 
that  he  was  not  running  his  place  for  fun,  and  that  he 
could  not  feed  the  soldiers  unless  paid  in  advance. 
The  commandant  walked  slowly  out  and  told  his 
burghers  what  had  been  said,  and  they  wheeled  their 
horses  about  and  continued  their  march  through 
the  town,  supperless.  I  do  not  believe  there  is 
another  people  on  earth  that  would  have  done  the 
same  thing,  and  allowed  that  money-grasping  hotel 
man  to  go  on  serving  meals  to  men  who  were  too 
cowardly  to  fight  for  their  country,  or  to  foreigners 
who  had  deserted  their  cause,  but  who  happened  to 
have  enough  money  to  satisfy  his  exorbitant  de- 
mands. 

Many  of  the  burghers  went  out  of  Pretoria  on  the 
last  days  with  scarcely  enough  to  keep  them  alive, 
simply  because  they  had  no  money,  and  they  would 
not  take  by  force  even  a  portion  of  the  stores  piled 
high  in  every  shop.  The  forbearance  of  these  sim- 
ple people  was  almost  past  belief. 

170 


CHAPTER   VII. 
The  Railroad  in  Modern  War 


AILWAYS  are  undoubtedly  one  of 
the  most   important    factors   in 
the    wars    of    to-day,   and  after 
some  campaigning  my  first  idea 
of  war  is  a  raih^oad  for  a  guide. 
Day   after   day   the    advancing 
columns  follow  the  broken  iron 
pathway  with  the  twisted  rails 
and  wrecked  bridges  as  signs  on 
the  trail  they  are  following.    At 
the  same    time    the    retreating 
force  rolls  comfortably  along  in 
well-working  trains,  blowing  up 
everything  behind  them  as  soon 
as  they  are  ready  to  evacuate  a 
position. 
After  returning  from  South  Africa  I  spent  much 
time  reading  in   the   London  press  of  the  various 
engagements  that  I  had  seen,  or  had  learned  about 
from  those  who  had  seen  them.     Nearly  every  de- 
spatch said  that  "  the  enemy  was  completely  demor- 
alized," or"  the  enemy  retreated  in  wild  confusion." 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  was  at  no  time  any  confu- 

171 


Major  Burnkam, 
the  American 
Chief  of  Scouts 
for  Lord  Roberts. 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


sion  whatever  on  the  part  of  the  Boers,  and  the 
retreats  were  the  most  orderly  and  methodical  affairs 
that  can  be  imagined.  If  there  was  no  railway  for 
use,  the  men  merely  mounted  their  horses  and  rode 
away  as  though  there  were  no  really  pressing  reason 
for  their  going  and  that  any  time  would  do.  Even 
when  the  British  advance  was  within  striking  dis- 
tance, the  same  calmness  was  displayed.  When 
there  was  a  railway  communication,  which  was  gen- 
erally the  case,  trains  were  brought  up,  and  the 
burghers  entrained  their  mounts  and  their  guns; 
and  when  everything  was  ready,  they  pulled  out  to 
the  next  place  selected  for  a  stand.  The  women 
occupied  the  first-class  carriages,  and  if  they  did  not 
fill  the  seats,  the  men  shared  them ;  but  the  men 
did  not  seem  to  feel  much  preference  between  a 
passenger  carriage  and  an  open  truck.  It  was  always 
an  orderly,  good-natured  crowd,  which  apparently, 
except  for  the  Mauser  slung  across  every  shoulder, 
might  have  been  returning  from  a  county  fair. 

The  retreat  from  Pretoria  was  possibly  an  excep- 
tion, as  there  was  then  great  excitement  throughout 
the  city;  but  even  in  this  case  the  agitation  was 
among  the  people  of  the  city,  and  not  among  the 
fighting  men.  They  continued  in  their  usual  quiet, 
indifferent  manner,  while  many  of  the  non-combat- 
ants were  almost  panic-stricken.  The  commandoes 
preferring  to  make  the  retreat  towards  Middleburg 
by  rail  gathered  at  the  station  and  attended  to  the 
entraining  of  their  mounts  as  though  it  were  a 
matter  of  no  importance  whether  they  got  away  or 

172 


The    Railroad    in    Modern    War 

not ;  and  yet  at  that  time  it  was  thought  that  the 
British  were  but  a  few  miles  away. 

To  be  able  to  control  the  railway  means  every- 
thing to  an  army,  especially  when  it  is  operating  in 
a  hostile  territory.  All  things  must  be  sacrificed  to 
protect  and  maintain  the  line  so  as  to  allow  the  safe 
transit  of  trains;  and  to  that  problem  the  British 
were  compelled  to  devote  most  of  their  attention ; 
the  burghers  sought  chiefly  to  destroy  their  plans, 
as  they  were  not  of  sufficient  force  to  control  any 
great  portion  of  the  railways. 

The  defense  of  railroads  did  not  enter  into  the 
Spanish-American  War  on  either  side,  as  the  terri- 
tory covered  by  the  operations  in  Cuba  was  too 
small  for  them  to  be  of  vital  importance;  but  owing 
to  the  vast  territory  under  military  operation  in 
South  Africa  they  have  been  a  factor  of  prime  im- 
portance. If  the  Boer  commanders  had  had  less 
respect  for  property,  and  had  destroyed  every  piece 
of  rolling  stock  that  they  could  not  use,  they  would 
have  been  more  successful ;  but  instead  of  that  they 
usually  abandoned  it  all,  and  allowed  the  enemy  to 
take  it,  enabling  him  in  every  case  to  use  it  imme- 
diately for  the  transportation  of  supplies  and  troops. 
A  torch  would  have  prevented  this  many  times,  and 
would  have  been  the  proper  and  legitimate  method 
to  be  used  ;  but,  thinking  of  the  loss  to  some  of  their 
own  people,  they  allowed  the  British  to  take  every- 
thing. Some  commandants  even  argued  against 
blowing  up  the  bridges.  The  Spaniards  knew  the 
value  of  the  fire-brand  at  Daiquiri,  for  when  Gen- 

173 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


The  old  and  the  neiv  military  bridge  at 
Modder  River. 


eral  Shafter's  army  was  preparing  to  land  and  begin 
the  advance  on  Santiago,  the  invaders  on  the  trans- 
ports saw  the  thick  smoke  of  the  burning  buildings 
curling  skywards;  and  when  we  landed,  about  two 
hours  later,  we  found  the  station  and  engine-house 
a  mass  of  smoking  embers,  surrounding  the  burned 
ruins  of  every  engine  at  that  end  of  the  line.  Had 
the  Boers  shown  more  inclination  to  do  as  the  Span- 
iards did  in  this  instance,  they  would  have  been  far 
better  off,  and  would  not  have  left  miles  of  railroad 
and  thousands  of  pieces  of  rolling  stock  with  which 
their  enemies  operated  against  them. 

The  maintenance  of  the  rail  communication  be- 
tween the  base  of  supplies  at  Cape  Town  and  the 
head  of  the  army  was  the  most  difificult  problem 
that  the   British   were  called   upon  to  solve  during 

174 


The    Railroad    in    Modern    War 

the  South  African  War;  and  there  was  nothing  more 
essential  to  the  successful  operations  of  the  troops 
than  the  freedom  of  this  line.  It  was  the  main  artery 
from  the  heart,  through  whicli  the  life-blood  of  the 
army  flowed,  and  to  check  it,  even  for  a  few  hours, 
meant  suffering  and  hardship  to  the  troops  at  the  rail 
termiinus,  while  to  break  it  for  a  week  or  more  would 
have  caused  ruin  to  all  plans  of  offensive  campaign. 

The  guard  to  protect  this  communication  must 
be  strong  enough  at  every  point  to  repel  any  attempt 
to  destroy  the  line;  and  to  maintain  this  guard 
means  the  constant  use  of  thousands  of  troops  who 
may  never  hear  a  shot  fired,  but  who  are  more  es- 
sential to  the  success  of  the  campaign  than  the 
soldiers  who  are  doing  the  actual  fighting.  If  this 
vigilance  should  be  relaxed  for  an  hour,  one  of  their 
enemies  could  do  enough  damage  with  a  single 
stick  of  dynamite  to  embarrass  the  troops  very 
seriously,  perhaps  cause  a  wreckage  that  would  take  a 
hundred  men  a  day  to  repair,  even  if  it  were  merely 
on  the  ordinary  line;  but  if  they  should  get  at  a 
bridge  the  damage  could  not  be  repaired  in  a  week. 

As  the  burghers  retreated  before  the  British  ad- 
vance they  destroyed  all  the  bridges  on  the  lines  of 
retreat  in  a  most  effectual  manner  by  the  use  of 
high  explosives,  in  many  cases  leaving  hardly  one 
stone  above  another.  On  the  line  from  Cape  Town 
to  Pretoria  the  spans  over  the  Orange,  Riet,  Modder, 
Vet,  Vaal,  and  Zand  rivers,  besides  many  others,  were 
destroyed,  so  that  it  took  weeks  to  repair  them ; 
and  in  all  cases  the  British  were  compelled  to  build 

175 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


Defense  of  a  line  of  communication  iti  the 
Transvaal. 


deviations  of  the  h*ne  going  around  the  banks  of  the 
rivers,  and  by  gradual  descent  into  the  bed  of  the 
river  and  then  up  the  opposite  bank.  Nearly  all 
the  river  beds  of  the  Orange  Free  State  and  the 
Transvaal  are  very  deep,  with  perpendicular  sides. 
Their  depth  is  so  great  that  it  is  quite  impossible 
to  cross  at  any  point  except  by  the  railway  bridges 
and  the  regular  fords  and  drifts.  One  may  ride 
almost  to  the  edge  of  the  river  before  reaHzing  that 
there  is  a  stream  in  the  vicinity.  The  laborious 
difificulty  of  spanning  these  deep  gorge-like  river  cuts 
makes  it  necessary  that  a  large  body  of  troops  be 
detailed  to  guard  each  bridge  or  Hne  deviation.  The 
railways  must  be  maintained  or  the  advance  must 
withdraw. 

There  is  a  striking  contrast  between  the  methods 
of  our  government  and  that  of  the  various  European 

176 


The    Railroad    in   Modern    War 

powers  in  the  treatment  of  practical  problems  re- 
garding the  mobilization  of  troops  in  time  of  peace. 
There  is  not  a  state  of  the  Old  World  so  small  as  to 
be  without  its  manceuvres,  and  as  the  great  agency 
the  railroad  facilities  are  carefully  studied.  It  has 
been  a  huge  military  oversight  on  the  part  of  our 
government  to  fail  to  provide  for  an  occasional  mob- 
ilization of  troops,  and  for  their  operation  in  the 
field  as  one  body.  We  have  never  had  an  army  of 
sufficient  size  to  warrant  any  such  manoeuvres  with 
the  regular  force  alone,  but  the  National  Guard 
regiments  should  be  included  in  this  sort  of  work 
just  as  the  militia  regiments  of  England  are  every 
year  made  a  part  of  the  Aldershot  manoeuvres.  It 
has  been  argued  that  our  distances  arc  too  great  to 
justify  such  an  extensive  plan  of  peaceful  opera- 
tions, but  that  very  reason  should  be  the  incentive 
to  our  government  to  appropriate  sufficient  funds  to 
carry  on  the  work.  It  would  be  a  simple  matter 
indeed  were  the  operations  of  our  forces  confined  to 
as  small  a  territory  as  those  of  England,  France,  or 
Germany;  but  when  the  sudden  call  of  troops 
means  a  mobilization  from  many  quarters  and  a 
journey  of  several  days,  to  leave  the  problem  to  the 
last  moment  before  solving  it  is  indeed  a  perilous 
hazard  and  one  that  is  incredibly  irrational. 

In  France  and  Germany  every  goods  carriage  is 
marked  on  the  outside,  showing  the  exact  number 
of  men  or  horses  that  it  will  accommodate  for  mili- 
tary transportation  ;  every  division  of  the  railroad 
accounts  each  day  to  the  Minister  of  War  for  the 
12  177 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


number  of  cars  on  the  tracks  that  may  be  used  for 
mlHtary  purposes.  Such  minuteness  would  be,  of 
course,  an  unnecessary  extreme  for  this  country; 
but  we  do  need  a  practical  relation  existing  between 
the  War  Department  and  the  railroads,  by  which 
the  brains,  as  well  as  the  stock,  of  the  various  sys- 
tems might  be  drafted  at  any  hour  into  strict  mili- 
tary accountability.  Moreover,  we  need  a  national 
instruction  for  the  National  Guard.  The  States 
should  give  to  the  War  Department  authority  to 
mobilize  and  temporarily  control  their  militia  in 
time  of  peace;  and  then  the  Department  should  be 
provided  with  means  to  mobilize  both  State  and 
Federal  troops  of  a  certain  territory,  making  the 
territory  as  large  as  possible,  so  that  the  number  of 
regiments  would  be  sufficient  to  be  of  use  in  the  in- 
struction regarding  transportation.  Such  a  mobil- 
ization would  be  of  most  signal  value,  even  though 
the  encampment  lasted  only  the  briefest  time,  as  it 
would  enable  the  officers  to  become  accustomed  to 
rail  transportation. 

Just  before  the  war  with  Spain  the  First  United 
States  Infantry  was  stationed  at  the  Presidio  in  San 
Francisco;  and  when  war  seemed  inevitable,  that 
regiment  was  ordered  to  Tampa.  It  was  the  first 
body  of  troops  to  be  moved,  and  although  no  great 
haste  was  necessary,  there  was  considerable  diffi- 
culty in  getting  the  command  properly  entrained. 
This  was  due  to  no  fault  of  the  field  officers;  they 
knew  what  should  be  done,  but  the  staff  depart- 
ment did  not  understand  the  necessary  office  work 

178 


The    Railroad    in   Modern    War 

which  it  entailed.  When  the  men  were  finally  put 
on  board,  they  found  themselves  in  tourist  day- 
coaches,  without  any  sleeping  accommodations,  al- 
though they  were  to  cross  the  continent.  The  time 
occupied  by  the  journey  was  longer  than  necessary, 
because  it  was  necessary  to  stop  twice  a  day  long 
enough  to  give  the  men  an  opportunity  to  cook 
rations.  A  portable  cooking  outfit,  to  be  used  in 
an  ordinary  baggage  or  freight  car,  should  be  sup- 
plied to  each  regiment;  most  of  the  stops  could 
then  be  avoided,  the  trip  be  made  in  nearly  half  the 
time,  and  the  comfort  of  the  men  would  be  greatly 
increased. 

Just  such  an  apparatus  was  attached  to  a  troop 
and  hospital  train  upon  which  I  made  the  journey 
from  Pretoria  to  Cape  Town,  and  it  was  quite  a 
successful  arrangement,  although  it  was  merely  an 
improvised  one.  That  was  a  journey  of  six  to 
eight  days  at  that  time,  and  as  every  delay  meant 
a  certain  block  in  the  traffic,  stoppages  were  out  of 
the  question;  but  with  this  rolling  kitchen  those  on 
the  train  were  supplied  with  hot  rations.  The  floor 
of  the  car  was  covered  with  thin  sheet  iron  or  zinc, 
to  prevent  the  car  from  catching  fire,  a  large  water 
tank  was  fitted  in  one  end,  and  next  to  it  was  a 
water  boiler  of  considerable  capacity.  The  stove 
was  an  ordinary  house  range  made  fast,  and  if, 
owing  to  the  motion  of  the  train,  it  was  not  a  com- 
plete success,  it  is  another  illustration  of  the  value 
of  preparedness  before  the  very  moment  of  need 
arrives. 

179 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


The  carrying  capacity  of  our  railroads  far  exceeds 
that  of  England  or  of  any  other  European  country; 
our  cars  are  larger  and  our  engines  more  powerful. 
With  better  facilities  at  command,  the  problem  is 
simple,  but  we  need  practice  in  the  work.  The 
War  Department  already  knows  how  many  cars 
each  railroad  carries,  how  many  may  be  used  for 
military  purposes,  and  just  how  many  men  and 
horses  they  will  accommodate;  but  a  military  use  of 
some  of  them  should  be  made  occasionally  as  an 
essential  manoeuvre.  The  regular  ofificers  know  at 
least  the  ordinary  management  of  trains  for  soldiers, 
but  that  cannot  be  said  of  the  officers  of  the  militia 
which  is  to  be  used  in  time  of  war,  and  they  should 
be  fully  instructed  in  these  matters  in  time  of  peace. 

Armored  trains  are  little  better  than  amusing 
until  the  inside  of  them  is  spattered  with  the  blood 
of  good  men  sacrificed  to  a  theory.  Then  the 
amusement  ends  and  the  court  of  inquiry  begins. 
The  character  of  the  country  in  South  Africa  is  all 
that  could  be  desired  for  the  use  of  armored  trains, 
especially  in  the  Orange  Free  State,  where  the  great 
veldt  makes  a  low  horizon  on  all  sides,  and  the 
level  country  is  broken  only  by  an  occasional  kopje 
rising  unexpectedly  from  the  great  plain.  An  ad- 
vance can  be  made  with  as  much  safety  over  this 
country  as  any  that  could  be  chosen,  and  yet  an 
armored  train  did  not  succeed  at  any  time  to  an  ex- 
tent that  would  make  it  advisable  to  continue  its  use. 

Several  of  these  trains  were  fitted  out  in  Cape 
Town  and  at  other  points,  and  none  lacked  any- 

i8o 


The    Railroad    in    Modern    War 


Canadian  trafispoi't  at  a  difficult  drift. 


thing  in  construction  which  could  make  them  a 
success.  They  consisted  of  an  engine  and  two  open 
trucks,  one  in  front  and  one  behind,  all  very  heavily 
armored  with  sheet  steel  or  iron,  and  in  some  cases 
hung  with  chains  and  heavy  ropes  as  an  extra  pro- 
tection. The  trucks  were  loopholed  for  small  arms, 
and  each  train  carried  one  or  more  machine  guns. 
The  vitals  of  each  engine  were  as  well  protected  as 
was  possible,  and  the  entire  machine  was  painted 
either  khaki  or  battle-ship  gray.  As  long  as  it  was 
safely  guarded  at  Cape  Town  it  was  a  remarkable 
invention ;  but  when  it  attempted  an  advance  to- 
wards the  enemy's  country,  the  trouble  began.     The 

l8i 


Blue    Shirt   and   Khaki 


Cape  carts  li'ith  British  officers''  personal  lug- 
gage ;  nearly  every  officer  had  one  of  these 
carts. 


keenest  watch  failed  to  discover  a  trace  of  any  foe, 
and  mile  after  mile  of  track  they  put  in  their 
rear  without  discovering  a  living  being  until  they 
concluded  to  retire.  Back  they  went  until  suddenly 
they  came  to  a  broken  bit  of  track,  a  rail  removed, 
by  which  the  train  was  brought  to  a  sudden  halt. 
Then  from  hidden  foemen  poured  a  storm  of  shot 
and  shell.  There  were  but  two  alternatives,  death 
or  surrender. 

All  that  is  required  to  capture  the  invading  train 
is  thus  to  allow  it  to  pass  quietly  on,  then  to  remove 
a  single  rail  or  to  place  some  ordinary  obstruction 
on  the  track,  and  wait  for  its  return,  A  few  in- 
stances have  occurred  where  the  armored  train  has 
escaped  when  flanked  by  columns  of  troops,  but  as 
a  rule  it  has  proved  thus  far  a  useless  and  dangerous 
experiment,  usually  resulting  in  the  death  or  cap- 
ture of  all  on  board. 

1S2 


The    Railroad    in    Modern    War 


A  British  transport  train  on  the  veldt. 


No  features  of  the  campaign  are  more  interesting 
than  the  attempts  to  cut  the  lines  of  communica- 
tion or  to  blow  up  a  bridge  or  a  culvert,  and  one  of 
the  most  daring  deeds  of  the  South  African  War 
was  done  by  Major  Burnham,  the  Californian  who 
acted  as  chief  scout  on  Lord  Roberts's  staff. 

Major  Burnham  received  his  training  in  the 
Apache  country  in  the  Southwest  from  those  In- 
dians who  are  masters  of  the  world  in  following  a 
trail  or  informing  themselves  as  to  the  whereabouts 
of  their  enemies.  Twice  was  Burnham  captured  by 
the  Boers  and  twice  he  made  his  escape.  In  both 
cases  he  was  wounded,  the  last  time  seriously.  He 
worked  night  and  day  for  the  army  with  which  he 
had  cast  his  lot,  and  when  he  was  ready  to  leave  for 
home,  he  came  away  with  a  letter  from  the  field 
marshal,  written  with  his  own  hand,  in  which  he 
stated  that  Major  Burnham  had  done  him  greater 
service  than  any  other  one  man  in  South  Africa. 

When  the  advance  of  the  British  forces  came 
183 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


within  striking  distance  of  Pretoria,  Lord  Roberts 
found  it  necessary  to  have  the  Hne  cut  just  east  of 
the  town  in  order  to  prevent  the  retreat  towards 
Middleburg  by  rail.  Burnham  started  to  do  it, 
taking  with  him  a  small  patrol  of  men  for  assistance. 
They  made  a  wide  detour  to  avoid  meeting  any  of 
the  commandoes,  which  were  now  moving  in  the 
same  direction.  All  went  well  with  him  until  he 
had  gone  half  way  around  and  was  about  to  turn  to 
the  north  to  find  the  culvert  which  he  intended  to 
destroy,  when  he  suddenly  met  a  large  commando 
coming  directly  towards  his  party.  A  running  fight 
followed,  in  which  his  horse  was  hit,  throwing  him 
heavily,  and  he  was  seriously  injured.  The  rest  of 
the  party  escaped,  but  he  was  made  a  prisoner,  and 
not  being  able  to  walk,  he  was  put  into  a  wagon 
under  a  guard  of  four  men,  two  riding  in  front  and 
two  behind.  The  vehicle  was  one  of  the  large  trek- 
wagons,  drawn  by  a  span  of  sixteen  oxen  and  driven 
by  a  Kaffir  boy,  who  divided  his  time  between  the 
front  seat  of  the  wagon  and  walking  beside  the  span. 
Major  Burnham  had  made  up  his  mind  to  escape  at 
all  hazards,  and  so  until  night  he  lay  in  the  wagon 
making  plans.  The  moon  was  almost  full,  and  the 
night  was  so  bright  that  the  difficulties  of  an  attempt 
to  escape  were  greatly  increased.  During  the  early 
part  of  the  night  the  Kaffir  driver  kept  his  position 
on  the  front  seat,  thus  preventing  any  experiments 
by  the  captive.  He  was  just  considering  an  attack 
on  the  black  boy  when  something  went  wrong 
with  one  of  the  leaders,  and  the  boy  jumped  down 

184 


The   Railroad    in    Modern    War 

to  remedy  it.  Seizing  the  opportunity  thus 
afforded,  Major  Burnham  cHmbed  out  over  the  seat, 
down  on  the  disselboom  or  tongue  of  the  wagon, 
on  which  he  stretched  himself  flat  between  the  oxen 
of  the  first  span,  swung  himself  under  the  dissel- 
boom, dropped  into  the  road,  and  allowed  the  wagon 
to  pass  over  his  body.  As  soon  as  it  had  passed  he 
rolled  quickly  over  and  over  into  the  ditch,  and  lay 
perfectly  quiet  while  the  rear  guard  passed  by, 
wholly  unconscious  that  their  prisoner  had  escaped. 
The  khaki  uniform  which  Major  Burnham  wore 
made  this  little  bit  of  strategy  possible,  for  had  he 
been  in  dark  clothes  his  body  would  probably  have 
been  seen  by  the  guard,  who  rode  along  within 
twenty-five  feet  of  him. 

As  soon  as  the  two  Boer  soldiers  had  passed  to  a 
distance  which  allowed  no  chance  of  discovery,  the 
Californian  picked  his  way  up  through  the  rocks  to 
the  side  of  an  adjacent  kopje,  where  he  remained 
hidden  for  some  hours.  For  a  well  man  to  have 
accomplished  this  feat  would  perhaps  have  been  a 
simple  matter,  although  it  took  a  daring  mind  to 
conceive  it;  but  for  a  man  in  Major  Burnham's  con- 
dition to  go  through  the  mental  strain  and  physical 
torture  of  such  an  escape  was  a  remarkable  perform- 
ance, and  it  received  its  proper  praise  from  both 
Briton  and  Boer.  There  is  no  man  living  who  so 
admires  true  courage  and  pluck,  or  who  so  despises  a 
coward,  as  does  this  hardy  farmer-fighter;  nor  does 
he  bear  resentment  towards  a  man  who,  like  Major 
Burnham,  fought  only  for  the  love  of  war. 

I85 


Blue    Shirt  and    Khaki 


After  spending  several  hours  among  the  rocks, 
without  food  or  water,  and  in  the  bitterly  cold  night 
air  of  an  African  winter,  the  scout  began  to  drag 
himself  towards  the  railroad  to  accomplish  the  task 
he  had  first  set  out  to  do.  Strangely  enough,  when 
he  was  captured  he  was  not  searched,  and  he  still 
carried  in  his  tunic  a  dynamite  cartridge  ready  for 
use.  During  the  entire  campaign  Major  Burnham 
never  carried  arms  of  any  sort,  and  when  he  was 
taken,  his  captors,  not  seeing  any  weapons  about 
him,  probably  thought  that  he  had  nothing  about 
him  of  a  dangerous  character.  For  more  than  two 
miles  he  dragged  himself  over  the  rocky  veldt  until 
he  finally  reached  the  railroad,  along  which  he 
crawled  until  he  found  a  culvert.  Upon  this  he 
placed  the  cartridge,  with  a  fuse  of  a  sufificient 
length  to  allow  him  to  crawl  to  a  place  of  safety. 
He  destroyed  the  line,  and  accomplished  the  task  he 
undertook,  although  it  nearly  cost  him  his  life.  He 
was  picked  up  by  a  British  patrol  late  that  afternoon, 
almost  dead  from  exposure  and  the  effects  of  his 
wound,  and  was  taken  to  the  hospital,  where  he  was 
confined  for  a  fortnight  before  he  could  even  walk. 

This  achievement  is  one  of  many  performed  by 
this  same  brave  American  during  the  war.  Major 
Burnham  is  without  doubt  an  exceedingly  clever  man 
on  the  trail;  he  does  not  know  fear,  and  his  one  idea 
is  to  accomplish  his  end.  But  that  does  not  entirely 
indicate  the  reason  for  his  high  place  in  the  confi- 
dence of  Lord  Roberts;  it  rather  comes  from  the 
fact    that    Englishmen  know  nothing    of   the  won- 

i86 


Canadian  transport  at  a  dijfficitlt  drift. 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


derful  arts  of  the  men  of  the  plains ;  and  when  a  man 
is  able  to  tell  them  the  number  of  cattle  in  a  herd, 
and  the  number  of  men  guarding  it,  or  the  number 
of  men  in  a  commando,  and  the  condition  of  their 
horses,  merely  by  examining  the  ground  over  which 
they  have  passed,  they  consider  it  little  short  of  a 
miracle.  Neither  the  officer  nor  the  private  soldier  has 
had  any  of  the  training  of  the  latent  faculties  which  is 
so  thorough  among  the  officers  and  men  of  our  army. 
The  value  of  a  stick  of  dynamite  is  sometimes 
more  precious  than  that  of  gold  in  war.  As  the 
Transvaal  is  a  mining  country,  great  quantities  of 
this  explosive  were  easily  obtained,  and,  accordingly, 
despite  the  heavy  guard,  the  line  of  communication 
was  often  broken;  in  fact,  so  frequently  was  the 
railroad  destroyed  that  Lord  Roberts  was  heavily 
embarrassed  during  his  first  month  in  Pretoria  for 
provision  and  forage  for  his  troops.  Hardly  a  day 
passed  without  the  line  being  cut  at  some  point. 
Finally,  in  the  hope  of  preventing  further  inter- 
ruption of  his  railroad  line.  Lord  Roberts  issued  the 
following  proclamation,  the  terms  of  which  were 
about  as  cruel  as  could  be  devised: 


Proclamation. 

Whereas,  small  parties  of  raiders  have  recently 
been  doing  wanton  damage  to  public  property  in 
the  Orange  River  Colony  and  South  African  Repub- 
lic by  destroying  railway  bridges  and  culverts,  and 
cutting  the  telegraph  wires;  and,  whereas,  such 
damage  cannot  be  done  without  the  knowledge  and 

i88 


The    Railroad    in    Modern    War 

connivance  of  the  neighboring  inhabitants  and  the 
principal  civil  residents  in  the  districts  concerned ; 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Frederick  Sleigh,  Baron  Rob- 
erts of  Kandahar  and  Waterford,  K.P.,  G.C.B., 
G.C.S.I.,  G.C.I.E.,  V.C.,  Field  Marshal,  Comman- 
der-in-Chief of  Her  Majesty's  Troops  in  South 
Africa,  warn  the  said  inhabitants  and  principal  civil 
residents  that,  whenever  public  property  is  destroyed 
or  injured  in  the  manner  specified  above,  they  will 
be  held  responsible  for  aiding  and  abetting  the 
offenders.  The  houses  in  the  vicinity  of  the  place 
where  the  damage  is  done  will  be  burnt,  and  the 
principal  civil  residents  will  be  made  prisoners  of 
war. 

Roberts, 

F.  M. 

A  few  days  later  it  was  followed  by  another  proc- 
lamation, even  more  harsh : 

Proclamation. 

Referring  to  my  proclamation  dated  Pretoria, 
1 6th  June,  1900,  I,  Frederick  Sleigh,  Baron  Rob- 
erts of  Kandahar  and  Waterford,  K.P.,  G.C.B., 
G.C.S.I.,  G.C.I.E.,  V.C,  Field  Marshal,  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  Her  Majesty's  Troops  in  South 
Africa,  do  hereby  declare,  proclaim,  and  make 
known  that,  should  any  damage  be  done  to  any  of 
the  lines  of  railway,  or  to  any  of  the  railway  bridges, 
culverts,  or  buildings,  or  to  any  telegraph  lines  or 
other  railway  or  public  property  in  the  Orange 
River  Colony,  or  in  that  portion  of  the  South 
African  Republic  for  the  time  being  within  the 
sphere  of  my  military  operations,  the  following 
punishment  will  be  inflicted: 

I.  The  principal  residents  of  the  towns  and  dis- 
189 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


trict  will  be  held,  jointly  and  severally,  responsible 
for  the  amount  of  damage  done  in  their  district. 

2.  In  addition  to  the  payment  of  the  damage 
above  mentioned,  a  penalty  depending  upon  the 
circumstances  of  each  case,  but  which  in  no  event 
will  be  less  than  a  sum  of  2s,  6d.  per  morgen  on  the 
area  of  each  farm,  will  be  levied  and  recovered  from 
each  burgher  of  the  district  in  which  the  damage  is 
done,  in  respect  of  the  land  owned  or  occupied  by 
him  in  such  district.  Furthermore,  all  receipts  for 
goods  requisitioned  in  such  district  on  behalf  of  the 
military  authorities  will  be  cancelled,  and  no  pay- 
ment whatsoever  will  be  made  in  respect  of  the  same. 

3.  As  a  further  precautionary  measure,  the  Di- 
rector of  Military  Railways  has  been  authorized  to 
order  that  one  or  more  of  the  residents,  who  will 
be  selected  by  him  from  each  district,  shall  from 
time  to  time  personally  accompany  the  trains  while 
travelling  through  their  district. 

4.  The  houses  and  farms  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
place  where  the  damage  is  done  will  be  destroyed, 
and  the  residents  of  the  neighborhood  dealt  with 
under  martial  law. 

5.  The  military  authorities  will  render  every  fa- 
cility to  the  principal  residents  to  enable  them  to 
communicate  the  purport  of  this  proclamation  to 
the  other  residents  in  their  district,  so  that  all  per- 
sons may  become  fully  cognizant  of  the  responsi- 
bility resting  upon  them. 

(Signed)        Roberts, 

F.  M".,  Commander-in-Chief, 
South  Africa. 

I  say  these  proclamations  were  cruel,  because  they 
struck  the  innocent  for  the  doings  of  the  guilty. 
War  is  essentially  merciless,  but  these  orders  made  it 

190 


The    Railroad   in   Modern    War 


The  Guards  and  mounted  infantry  at  Pretoria 
Station. 


unnecessarily  infernal.  The  reason  given  for  the 
burning  of  farms  near  where  the  line  was  cut  was 
that  such  work  could  not  have  been  done  without 
the  knowledge  of  those  who  lived  in  the  vicinity; 
but  that  reason  was  wholly  untrue,  for  in  some  cases 
farms  were  burned  and  destroyed  several  miles  away 
from  the  railroad — in  fact,  not  even  in  sight.  How 
could  it  be  expected  that  the  occupants  of  a  farm 
several  miles  away  could  know  what  was  going  on 
while  they  slept  ?  I  know  of  cases  where  the  same 
damage  has  been  done  to  the  railroad  under  the 
very  noses  of  British  sentries  put  there  to  prevent 
it,  and  yet  Lord   Roberts  assumed  that  the  occu- 

igi 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


pants  of  the  farmhouses  must  know  all  that  went 
on  for  miles  about.  On  the  majority  of  the  farms 
there  were  only  women.  They  and  hundreds  of 
other  innocent  people  who  had  no  hand  in  the  rail- 
way destruction,  although  their  hearts  were  un- 
doubtedly with  the  cause,  were  made  homeless  by 
the  torch. 

The  drastic  measures  taken  by  the  British  have 
reacted  against  them.  One  of  the  principal  obsta- 
cles in  the  way  of  ending  the  war  has  been  that  the 
homes  and  farms  of  the  greater  number  of  the 
burghers  in  the  field  were  destroyed,  and  there  was 
nothing  left  for  them  to  do  but  to  fight.  Outside 
of  this  wholesale  burning,  the  British  policy  has,  in 
most  instances,  been  very  liberal  indeed  towards 
the  residents  of  the  territory  occupied ;  they  have  in 
most  cases  paid  high  prices  in  cash  for  everything 
that  was  needed  for  the  use  of  the  military,  and 
the  people  have  not  been  annoyed  any  more  than 
was  absolutely  necessary  for  the  good  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  army;  but  these  two  orders  stagger 
belief.  They  were  not  mere  threats,  but  were 
actually  carried  out  to  the  letter,  and  are  still  in 
operation.  The  one  most  damaging  blow  that  a 
force  inferior  in  strength  can  strike  is  at  the  enemy's 
line  of  communication  ;  therefore,  so  long  as  the  fight- 
ing goes  on,  the  railway  will  be  broken  as  often  as 
possible.  More  homes  will  be  burned  and  more 
men  will  be  forced  into  the  field  ;  few  farms  will  be 
left  undestroyed,  and  the  country  is  likely  to  be 
left  desolate  of  inhabitants. 

192 


The    Railroad    in    Modern    War 

Thus  it  is  that  the  railroad  plays  such  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  war  of  to-day.  The  railroad  recon- 
quered the  Soudan,  and  will  eventually  conquer  the 
entire  continent  of  Africa.  It  is  working  down  from 
the  north  and  up  from  the  south,  slowly  but  surely 
throwing  out  its  network  of  iron,  from  which  nothing 
can  escape.  It  has  reclaimed  the  great  territory  of 
Siberia  as  it  did  our  Western  plains.  It  is  the 
mightiest  engine  of  civilization  in  peace;  it  is  the 
very  vitals  of  an  army  in  war. 
13 


193 


CflAPTER   VITI. 
Transportation  of  Troops  by  Sea 

HEN  rumors  of  war 
crowd  upon  one  an- 
other until  it  seems 
inevitable,  the  State 
Departments  of  the 
interested  nationsare 
not  more  anxious 
to  anticipate  coming 
events  than  are  the 
corps  of  war  corre- 
spondents who  wish 
to  follow  the  fate 
and  fortunes  of  the 
armies.  To  be  on  the 
spot  when  things  hap- 
pen is  the  secret  of  their  success ;  but  during  the  past 
few  years,  when  wars  have  been  so  frequent,  it  has 
been  hard  to  decide  where  to  go.  It  is  not  always 
easy  to  get  there  after  that  decision  is  reached,  for 
in  recent  years  war  has  been  carried  on  in  the  most 
remote  and  inaccessible  places,  and  many  weeks 
were  often  lost  in  anxious  travel  before  the  scene 
of  action  was  reached. 

194 


Armatnent  on  an  American 
transport. 


Transportation    of  Troops   by    Sea 

When  I  was  leaving  Havana,  just  after  the  Amer- 
ican occupation,  a  young  officer  there  was  ordered  to 
proceed  at  once  to  the  Phih"ppines.  He  packed  all 
his  belongings,  arranged  his  departure,  and  caught 
a  steamer  for  Tampa  in  two  hours,  bidding  only 
such  friends  good-by  as  he  happened  to  be  able  to 
hail  from  his  cab  on  the  way  to  the  wharf.  I  met 
him  on  the  steamer,  and  all  the  way  to  Washington 
he  fretted  and  worried  because  steam  could  not 
drive  the  passenger  coaches  fast  enough.  He  feared 
the  war  would  be  over  before  he  could  reach  the 
Philippines;  he  counted  the  days  until  he  could  get 
there;  he  prayed  that  Aguinaldo  might  not  surren- 
der until  he  arrived.  I  received  a  letter  from  him 
a  short  time  ago,  and  he  is  now  praying  that  the 
rebellious  leader  will  surrender;  and  he  added  that 
it  was  the  one  regret  of  his  life  that  he  did  not  miss 
that  steamer  at  San  Francisco,  as  it  would  have 
given  him  two  weeks  more  at  home. 

In  London,  last  year,  a  young  Guardsman  told  me 
almost  tearfully  that  he  was  ordered  out  to  South 
Africa,  but  that  he  was  sure  Buller  would  finish  up 
the  war  before  he  could  get  there.  More  than  six 
months  later  I  saw  him  in  Pretoria,  and  he  re- 
marked hopelessly  that  he  had  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  he  was  now  a  permanent  resident  of  the 
Transvaal. 

Having  gone  through  similar  anxieties  myself 
several  times  during  the  past  few  years,  I  had  a 
little  faith  that  the  Boers  would  be  able  to  hold  out 
until  I  got  there,  but  I  naturally  studied  the  quickest 

195 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


way  to  make  the  long  journey.  I  was  favored  in 
tliat  the  new  army  transport  Stunner  was  ordered 
from  New  York  to  Manila,  and  I  secured  a  passage 
direct  to  Suez,  Not  only  was  I  helped  along  on 
that  journey,  but  I  had  an  opportunity  of  studying 
the  new  American  transport  service. 

The  mystery  and  awe  which  always  attend  a 
great  ship  starting  on  a  voyage  across  the  trackless 
ocean  is  intensified  when  the  floating  city  is  filled 
with  men  of  war,  who  are  to  face  death  in  a  far-off 
land  for  their  country's  honor;  then  the  interest 
becomes  appealing  and  tender.  Men  who  have  left 
home  for  the  front  or  the  post  many  times  before 
now  leave  under  new  and  more  unknown  condi- 
tions. Yet  there  seemed  not  to  be  an  officer  on  the 
Sumner  who  doubted  his  return  to  his  native  land 
after  winning  honor  on  the  field.  Already,  how- 
ever, several  of  those  officers  who  were  my  com- 
panions across  the  Atlantic  and  the  Mediterranean, 
and  many  of  the  men,  have  given  up  their  lives 
in  the  far  East. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  and  promising  of  the 
officers  on  the  Sumner  was  Captain  Mclniston  of 
the  Fourth  Infantry,  over  six  feet  of  man,  and  of 
powerful  frame.  He  had  won  in  Cuba  several  men- 
tions for  conspicuous  gallantry.  But  he  had  car- 
ried from  Santiago  the  seeds  of  tropic  fever,  which 
were  going  with  him  now.  He  was  appointed,  upon 
his  arrival  at  the  Philippines,  to  command  a  little 
garrison,  which  the  insurgents  immediately  besieged 
in  force.      His  fever  developed  rapidly  under   the 

196 


Transportation    of  Troops   by    Sea 

exposure  and  terrible  strain  of  the  siege,  and  at  last, 
when  delirium  had  usurped  his  brain,  he  was  shot 
dead,  in  a  panic,  by  his  own  soldiers — thus  dying 
the  most  pitiful  death  a  soldier  can  know.  The 
comment  of  the  bulletin,  "  temporary  insanity," 
gave  no  hint  of  the  bravery,  dutifulness,  and  suffer- 
ing which  had  produced  it,  and  which  called  for  a 
better  fate. 

The  private  soldier's  life  while  on  a  long  ocean 
voyage  is  made  as  easy  and  as  pleasant  as  possible 
by  the  ofificers  in  charge,  and  the  entire  trip  is  a  rest 
from  arduous  duty.  It  is  recognized  that  no  serious 
work  can  be  done  at  sea  by  any  man  not  accus- 
tomed to  seafaring.  A  certain  number  are  detailed 
for  assisting  in  the  preparation  and  serving  of  the 
meals,  in  keeping  the  quarters  clean,  and  in  a  small 
guard  detail;  but  that  is  all.  After  the  first  few 
days  out  the  men  are  put  through  a  regular  amount 
of  health  exercise,  which  consists  chiefly  of  walking 
and  running  around  the  decks.  When  time  hangs 
heavily,  amusement  is  ready.  The  army  department 
of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  been  oflficially  recognized  by 
the  War  Department,  and  men  are  detailed  by  the 
Association  to  accompany  the  troops  and  furnish 
entertainment  which  may  occupy  their  minds.  A 
variety  of  games,  from  tiddledy-winks  to  chess,  is 
provided,  and  the  man  in  charge  of  this  valuable 
work  is  active  all  the  day  and  evening  in  keeping 
the  men  amused.  He  arranges  tournaments  and 
matches,  and  gives  prizes  for  the  winners.  He  sug- 
gests different  occupations  for  the  idle  men,  and  in 

197 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


this  way  does  an  immense  amount  of  good.  The 
Association  also  provides  reading  matter  sufficient 
to  occupy  the  minds  of  those  who  care  to  read. 

An  incident  of  peculiar  interest  was  the  visit  we 
paid  to  the  Spanish  garrison  when  the  Sumner 
stopped  at  Gibraltar.  Crossing  the  neutral  strip, 
the  American  officers,  in  full  uniform,  drove  into 
the  little  Spanish  military  town.  It  was  with  a  nat- 
ural doubt  as  to  our  reception  that  we  made  this 
invasion.  At  once  the  strange  uniforms  engaged 
attention,  and  then  it  was  whispered  and  finally 
shouted  that  los  Americanos  soldados  were  visiting 
the  place,  and  the  crowds  grew  greater  to  gaze  at 
their  former  enemies.  The  salutations  were  of  the 
most  friendly  nature,  and  there  seemed  no  trace  of 
Spanish  animosity.  A  bunch  of  officers  invited  us 
to  remain  for  the  morrow's  bull  fight,  and  appeared 
genuinely  sorry  that  their  invitation  could  not  be 
accepted.  They  discussed  the  Philippine  situation 
with  friendly  candor,  sent  messages  to  old  acquaint- 
ances, and  rejoiced  that  they  were  not  going  them- 
selves. 

At  Malta  the  Sumner  anchored  only  a  couple 
of  lengths  from  shore,  and  her  cable  had  hardly 
been  paid  out  before  several  boat-loads  of  British 
Tommies  were  alongside.  Then  followed  an  extra- 
ordinary exhibition  of  fraternization.  The  soldiers 
of  the  two  nations  examined  one  another's  equip- 
ment and  uniforms  and  discussed  their  relative 
usefulness.  They  finally  began  to  exchange  but- 
tons from  their  blouses  and  tunics,  and  before  many 

198 


British  soldiers  leaving  the  Sumner  after  having 
exchanged  uniforms  xvith  Americans. 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


minutes  had  passed  the  spirit  of  trade  took  their 
fancy.  A  British  soldier  would  admire  the  useful 
campaign  hat  of  an  American,  who  in  return  would 
declare  what  a  good  souvenir  the  "  dinky  lid  "  of 
the  Britisher  would  make  for  his  family  at  home, 
and  the  next  moment  they  would  swap.  Then  the 
trading  went  into  blouses,  trousers,  and  shirts;  at 
least  one  entire  boat-load  of  Tommies  went  back 
in  the  full  field  uniform  of  the  American  army. 
What  afterwards  happened  to  them  when  they  en- 
countered the  strict  sergeant  the  Americans  con- 
jectured with  grins. 

The  American  colonel,  however,  put  his  foot 
down,  and  the  amusing  episode  had  to  end,  for  the 
regiment  was  going  to  land  for  parade  the  next  day, 
and  there  would  not  have  been  an  entire  uniform  in 
the  lot  had  the  men  been  allowed  to  keep  on  ex- 
changing clothes. 

The  parade  on  British  soil,  in  the  presence  of  a 
British  garrison,  put  the  men  on  their  mettle.  As 
the  Philippine  khaki  had  not  then  been  issued,  they 
furbished  up  their  worn  blue  suits  until  the  uni- 
forms made  an  unusually  good  appearance. 

Just  before  they  landed.  Captain  McCoy  stepped 
out  to  give  them  a  final  word  of  advice.  It  was 
short,  and  it  expressed  what  every  man  was  thinking 
already. 

"  Remember  one  thing,  men,"  he  said;  "  you  are 
going  to  be  watched  every  minute  you  are  on  shore 
by  Britishers,  so  don't  forget  that  you  are  Ameri- 
cans." 

200 


Transportation    of  Troops   by   Sea 

Although  the  men  were  nearly  all  recruits  who 
had  never  drilled  together,  even  as  companies,  they 
went  ashore  in  a  regimental  formation  which  did 
credit  to  our  service.  Every  man  marched  and 
drilled  as  though  the  eyes  of  all  the  British  soldiers 
about  were  directed  upon  him  alone. 

The  British  officers  expressed  much  admiration 
for  the  men,  and  gave  our  officers  a  good  many 
hearty  compliments.  They  were  a  different  type 
of  soldiers  from  any  they  had  ever  seen ;  they  had 
none  of  the  fancy  steps  or  hackney  carriage  of  the 
European  soldier;  they  were,  instead,  plain,  solid 
men  in  uniform,  nothing  more;  but  they  had  the 
swing  and  the  soldierly  alertness  which  stirs  the  blood 
with  its  promise.  British  bands  furnished  the  music 
for  the  American  troops,  and  the  old  ground  of  the 
Knights  of  Malta  heard  such  tunes  as  "  Marching 
Thro'  Georgia,"  "  Rally  'Round  the  Flag,"  and 
Sousa's  spirited  marches,  played  for  the  friendly 
tramp  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Republic  in  their  first 
parade  on  European  soil. 

The  beautiful  transport  to  which  I  bade  good-by 
at  Port  Sa'id  is  as  near  perfection  as  a  ship  made  on 
this  earth  can  aspire.  This  superlative  has  a  right 
to  be  used.  The  people  of  the  United  States  have 
been  made  familiar  with  the  details  of  their  per- 
fected warships ;  they  have  even  more  reason  to  be 
proud  of  the  superb  completeness  of  their  ships 
which  have  been  prepared  for  the  comfort,  health, 
and  good  cheer  of  the  American  soldiers  as  they  sail 
around  the  world.     From  the  dirty  floating  pens  of 

201 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


fever  and  misery  which  brought  our  men  up  from 
Santiago  to  Montauk,  to  the  cleanly,  shining  spa- 
ciousness and  undreamed-of  conveniences  of  such 
ships  as  the  Sumner,  is  a  far  call ;  it  seems  as  if 
a  century  or  two  instead  of  a  couple  of  years  had 
gone  between. 

The  Sumner  is  a  fair  type  of  all  the  new  army 
transports  now  in  use. 

To  begin  with,  she  is  well  armed  with  four  rapid- 
firing  guns,  and  belongs  in  reality  to  one  of  the  class 
of  unprotected  cruisers.  She  would  make  a  formi- 
dable foe  in  battle.  Any  distrust  of  the  value  of 
such  ships  in  time  of  war  is  dispelled  when  one 
remembers  the  record  of  the  American  liners  St. 
Paul  and  St.  Louis  when  they  were  converted  into 
cruisers ;  of  the  dashing  Gloucester ,  which  won  im- 
mortality on  a  Sunday  morning  at  Santiago — only 
a  light-minded  yacht  a  few  days  before ;  of  the 
stout  Hudson,  a  conscript  tug-boat,  which,  under 
the  command  of  Lieutenant  Scott,  participated  in 
the  engagement  of  Cardenas  Harbor,  and  finally 
rescued  the  torpedo-boat  Winslow  after  it  was  dis- 
abled and  helpless  under  the  enemy's  guns. 

The  transports  are,  in  appearance,  regular  mer- 
chant-built ships;  they  are  not  only  armed,  but 
they  are  fitted  with  every  known  appointment  for 
the  comfort,  health,  and  general  welfare  of  the 
troops.  Each  man  sleeps  in  a  comfortable  bunk 
built  on  iron  standards,  to  which  are  fastened  the 
springs  on  which  rests  a  mattress.  The  seating 
capacity  of  the  tables  equals  the  conveying  capacity 

202 


Transportation   of  Troops   by    Sea 

of  the  ship;  yet,  as  soon  as  the  meals  are  finished, 
the  tables  may  be  folded  away,  leaving  a  large  deck 
room  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  men.  Bath  appli- 
ances of  the  latest  pattern  furnish  opportunities  for 
cleanliness  and  comfort  not  excelled  in  garrison.  A 
store  gives  the  men  an  opportunity  to  buy  almost 
any  article  necessary  to  their  comfort  or  pleasure. 
All  sorts  of  food  supplies,  of  a  better  grade  than 
are  usually  furnished,  articles  of  clothing,  games, 
candy,  fruit,  and  all  the  ordinary  articles  in  demand, 
are  to  be  found  in  the  ship's  store.  The  prices 
charged  for  these  articles  are  only  their  cost  to 
the  government;  and,  as  the  government  buys  in 
large  quantities,  the  shop  makes  a  very  economical 
place  for  the  men  to  trade. 

The  hospital  and  drug  store  hold  all  that  is  wanted 
by  modern  medical  science.  There  is  an  operating- 
room  containing  every  known  appliance  useful  in 
surgery;  the  whole  room  is  finished  in  marble  tiling, 
while  all  the  metal  work  is  shining  nickel.  Here  is 
the  electric  apparatus  necessary  to  operations,  a 
Roentgen  ray  apparatus,  batteries  for  treatment  of 
certain  diseases,  and,  in  fact,  all  the  devices  and 
mechanisms  used  in  a  city  hospital.  The  hospital 
beds  are  as  comfortable  as  could  be  made  on  ship- 
board, all  being  supplied  with  necessary  supports, 
bridges  for  removing  the  weight  of  the  bed-clothes, 
and  tables  for  the  use  of  the  reclining  patient. 

There  is  a  system  of  cold  storage  and  ice  manu- 
facture which  makes  it  possible  to  carry  a  five 
months'  supply  of  fresh  food-stuffs  for  a  full  com- 

203 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


plement  of  troops,  so  that  the  transport  can  take 
on  a  supply  of  rations  at  a  home  port  and  not  be 
compelled  to  replenish  until  it  returns  again  to 
America.  The  kitchens,  bakeries,  and  laundries 
might  belong  to  a  Fifth  Avenue  hotel,  so  perfect 
are  they  in  every  detail. 

One  of  the  most  important  and  useful  features  of 
this  magnificent  ship  is  the  arrangement  for  supply- 
ing a  cold-air  draft  during  hot  weather.  The  fresh- 
air  supply  is  so  forced  over  ammonia  pipes  that  it  is 
cooled  and  then  discharged  throughout  the  entire 
ship.  Each  cabin,  each  deck,  and  every  part  of  the 
great  vessel  receives  its  supply  of  fresh  air  in  this 
manner,  so  that  even  in  tropical  weather  the  interior 
of  the  transport  is  very  comfortable.  During  winter 
weather  the  air  supply  may  be  heated  to  a  suflficient 
degree  to  create  warmth  throughout  the  vessel. 

The  officers'  quarters  are  the  final  model  of  com- 
fort. On  the  Sumner  there  are  accommodations 
for  more  than  sixty  officers.  Thirteen  bath-rooms 
belong  to  them.  These  baths  are  the  most  perfect 
made  by  scientific  plumbing;  each  has  a  great  por- 
celain tub,  with  its  spray  and  shower;  each  room  is 
done  in  white  marble  tiles,  with  nickel  fittings 
throughout.  There  is  a  large  dining-saloon  and 
also  a  comfortable  smoking-room.  In  short,  every 
comfort  that  is  known,  afloat  or  ashore,  for  both 
officers  and  men,  is  included  in  these  new  transports, 
which  are  in  all  respects  a  distinguished  honor  to 
our  government. 

In  her  fleet  of  splendid  transports,  of  which  the 

204 


Transportation   of  Troops   by    Sea 


American  transport  Sumner  in  the  harbor 
at  Malta. 

Sumner  is  a  fair  example,  the  United  States  now 
leads  the  world.  Indeed,  ours  is  the  only  govern- 
ment that  has  a  complete  transport  service  of  its 
own  regularly  equipped.  The  others  have  a  contin- 
uous use  of  hired  transports.  The  British  abandoned 
their  governmental  transport  service  a  few  years  ago 
as  a  failure. 


^^^l^|i|^^^^gf|9@ 

llll 

'  ^^^HR 

A  British  transport  taken  from  the  merchant 
UKtrine, 

205 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


The  American  fleet  of  transports  has  been  built 
up  entirely  since  the  war  with  Spain  by  the  pur- 
chase and  reconstruction  of  a  number  of  vessels  from 
the  merchant  marine.  It  grew  out  of  sheer  and 
alarming  necessity. 

When  the  war  with  Spain  broke  out,  and  it  be- 
came necessary  to  transport  General  Shafter's  army 
to  Cuba,  the  government  was  compelled  to  use  every 
sort  of  vessel  which  the  entire  Atlantic  seaboard 
could  produce  to  get  a  sufficient  number  flying  the 
American  flag  to  carry  a  little  army  of  15,000  men  a 
few  hundred  miles.  So  serious  was  the  problem 
that  old  side-wheelers  were  used,  as  well  as  a  great 
number  of  ancient  craft  that  were  barely  seaworthy. 
This  humiliating  condition  stands  in  contrast  with 
England's  readiness  when  the  South  African  War 
called  for  transports.  She  sent  over  220,000  men 
several  thousand  miles  by  sea,  on  British  bottoms, 
without  making  so  much  as  a  ripple  on  the  surface 
of  maritime  commerce  and  traffic.  The  experience 
of  Japan  in  her  war  against  China  in  1895  might 
have  taught  us  a  lesson.  After  her  first  army  had 
sailed  and  landed  and  fought,  operations  were  prac- 
tically suspended  for  months,  as  there  were  not 
enough  ships  available  to  carry  over  the  second 
army.  But  we  do  not  learn  our  lessons  that  way, 
and  we  required  our  own  melancholy  experience, 
both  in  the  confusion  of  the  hired  ships  off  Daiquiri 
and  in  their  cruel  inadequacy  for  the  broken-down 
soldiers  on  the  return  voyage,  to  teach  us  the  need 
of  regular  and  model  transports  for  our  armies  across 

206 


Transportation   of  Troops   by   Sea 

the  sea.  In  view  of  this  costly  experience  it  seems 
Hke  an  unpatriotic  thing  for  the  private  lines  now 
running  to  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  and  the  Philippines  to 
be  engineering  a  movement  to  have  our  proud  little 
national  fleet  of  transports  abolished. 

Our  transport  service  is  adequate  for  our  present 
needs,  but  in  the  event  of  a  new  war,  which  might 
require  us  to  send  an  enlarged  army  over  seas,  we 
are  practically  no  better  prepared  than  in  1898;  for 
there  are  no  more  ships  in  the  merchant  marine  car- 
rying the  United  States  flag  which  could  be  drafted 
into  service  than  were  in  commission  then.  There 
are  practically  no  American  ships  in  trans-oceanic 
service  outside  those  of  the  government.  During 
the  past  year  I  sailed  entirely  around  the  continent 
of  Africa,  through  the  Mediterranean,  touching  at 
many  of  the  important  ports  on  the  route.  In  all 
that  time  I  saw  but  two  vessels  flying  the  American 
flag.  One  was  a  little  lumber  schooner  from  Maine, 
lying  in  the  harbor  of  Madeira;  the  other  was  a  bark, 
at  Cape  Town,  over  which  there  was  an  immense 
amount  of  trouble  raised  because  the  crew  refused 
to  take  her  out  to  sea  on  account  of  her  unseaworthy 
condition.  Consul-General  Stow  was  making  an  in- 
vestigation to  estimate  whether  the  hulk  would  float 
long  enough  to  get  back  to  an  American  port,  not  to 
be  condemned,  but  to  be  painted  over  and  sent  out 
again,  a  disgrace  to  the  nation.  American  vessels 
do  not  carry  five  per  cent,  of  our  exports  abroad,  for 
what  American  tonnage  we  have  is  suitable  chiefly 
for  coastwise  and  lake  navigation.     While  England's 

207 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


red  ensign  of  the  merchant  marine  is  seen  over  the 
stern  in  every  port  of  the  navigable  world,  to  our 
shame,  a  ship  flying  the  stars  and  stripes  is  a  stranger 
on  the  seas. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  pay  out  $165,000,000  each 
year  to  foreign  ships  simply  to  carry  our  products 
abroad.  We  need  our  own  ships  for  our  own  trafific. 
We  may  suddenly  need  them  some  day  for  availa- 
bility in  war. 

There  seems  to  be  but  one  way  in  which  to  build 
up  an  American  merchant  marine  without  waiting 
for  another  generation.  That  is  to  permit  ships  to 
become  naturalized.  There  are  to-day  hundreds  of 
foreign-built  ships  plying  to  our  ports,  knocking  at 
the  door  of  the  United  States  to  be  admitted  under 
American  registry,  so  that  they  may  fly  the  Amer- 
ican flag,  but  because  they  are  foreign-built  they  are 
debarred.  Men,  women,  and  children  are  allowed  to 
become  citizens  of  our  country  and  to  enjoy  our 
privileges;  why,  then,  should  we  not  allow  ships  to 
do  likewise  ?  Protection  to  the  home  trade  of  ship- 
building is  the  reason  for  debarring  those  who  want 
American  registry.  We  need  make  no  quarrel  with 
the  good  principle  of  protection  when  we  remind 
ourselves  that  our  ship-building  does  not  need  such 
drastic  measures  as  that ;  we  build  good  ships,  and  for- 
eign powers  are  ordering  even  their  ships  of  war  from 
our  yards.  It  will  be  a  greater  benefit  to  all  our  ship- 
ping to  allow  the  flag  to  be  raised  over  as  many  ves- 
sels as  will  accept  its  protection,  and  in  building  up 
our  shipping  our  ship-building  industry  will  increase. 

208 


Transportation    of    Troops    by    Sea 

It  is  simply  not  possible  for  the  United  States  to 
acquire,  within  a  reasonably  short  space  of  time,  a 
sufficient  shipping  to  occupy  any  important  position 
in  the  control  of  the  merchant  marine  of  the  world 
without  admitting  foreign-built  ships.  A  large 
amount  of  American  capital  has  been  invested  for 
some  time  in  foreign-built  ships,  the  desire  of  the 
owners  of  these  vessels  being  to  place  them  under 
the  American  flag;  but  they  have  been  prevented 
from  doing  so  by  our  government.  It  seems  only 
fair  that  our  citizens  who  have  invested  their  capital 
in  this  way  should  be  in  a  position  to  realize  the 
benefits  that  would  accrue  by  having  them  under 
the  American  flag,  provided  they  would  agree  within 
a  reasonably  short  time  to  add  to  the  tonnage  so 
admitted  an  equal  amount  of  American-built  ton- 
nage, thus  building  up  a  large  American  marine,  and 
at  the  same  time  securing  a  large  amount  of  work  to 
the  American  ship-building  interests, 

A  Shipping  Subsidy  Bill,  not  unlike  the  one  so 
long  before  Congress  would,  if  passed,  materially 
help  the  merchant  marine  of  this  country.  It  would 
make  it  possible  for  the  United  States  to  occupy 
a  leading  position  among  the  shipping  interests  of 
the  world,  instead  of  its  present  insignificant  place. 
To-day  it  is  impossible  for  the  United  States,  with 
its  scale  of  wages  and  larger  amount  of  compensa- 
tion to  seamen  and  officers,  to  compete  with  coun- 
tries where  there  is  absolute  freedom  in  the  employ- 
ment of  help  and  in  the  scale  of  wages,  without 
some  such  assistance.  In  addition  to  this,  the  cost 
14  209 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


of  ship-building  in  the  United  States  is  so  much 
greater  than  that  of  foreign  countries  that  the  ques- 
tions of  interest,  depreciation,  and  additional  insur- 
ance would  make  it  impossible  for  the  owner  of 
American  ships  to  compete  with  foreign-built  ships 
without  assistance ;  and  those  countries  which  have 
recently  built  up  their  merchant  marine — notably 
Japan — have  done  so  by  such  help. 

The  matter  of  raising  the  American  flag  over 
every  good  ship  that  is  willing  to  fly  it  most  imme- 
diately concerns  the  commercial  world ;  but  there  is 
another  side  of  the  question  to  be  considered.  So 
long  as  we  are  friendly  with  Great  Britain  we  shall 
undoubtedly  be  able  to  borrow  her  ships  with  which 
to  transport  our  troops  or  to  use  as  hospital  ships; 
but  if  we  should  ever  have  any  serious  difificulty 
with  that  country  it  would  be  very  diflficult  for  us 
to  obtain  a  sufficient  number  of  ships  to  transport 
our  troops  without  stopping  all  trade.  We  must 
remember  that  most  of  the  vessels  of  our  new  trans- 
port service  formerly  flew  the  Union  Jack  of  Great 
Britain.  If  it  is  thus  necessary  for  the  United 
States  to  buy  its  ships  of  a  foreign  power  for  this 
service,  our  lack  of  such  material  is  conspicuous. 

An  excellent  example  of  the  advantage  to  our 
interests  in  offering  our  flag  to  ships  that  desire  it  is 
afforded  by  the  attitude  of  the  Atlantic  Transport 
Line.  That  large  fleet  of  steamships  is  owned  and 
governed  by  Americans.  Ninety  per  cent,  of  the 
stock  is  held  in  this  country;  more  than  half  of  the 
officers  of  the  company  are  Americans.     The  owners 

210 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


want  the  American  flag  to  replace  that  of  England, 
but  they  are  unable  to  accomplish  their  desire  owing 
to  the  present  laws.  This  fleet  would  be  a  magnifi- 
cent addition  to  the  little  shipping  our  country  has 
at  present;  not  only  would  it  be  a  valuable  addition 
to  commerce,  but  it  would  be  of  inestimable  value 
in  time  of  war.  In  fact,  it  would  be  almost  like 
building  fifteen  or  twenty  extra  transports,  for  the 
line  has  proved  its  willingness  to  turn  over  its  ships 
to  the  government  when  necessary.  The  transports 
Thomas,  Sherman,  Logan,  Sheridan,  Grant,  Buford, 
Kilpatrick  were  all  formerly  ships  of  the  Atlantic 
Transport  Line,  as  were  also  the  hospital  ships, 
the  Missouri  and  the  Maine. 

The  two  new  ships  built  by  this  line,  the  Min- 
nehaha and  the  Minneapolis,  are  undoubtedly  bet- 
ter adapted  for  use  as  transports  than  any  other 
private  ships  afloat  to-day.  They  are  especially 
adapted  for  the  transportation  of  mounted  troops, 
the  most  difificult  problem  of  ocean  carriage.  These 
two  sister  ships  are  among  the  largest  afloat,  and 
have  permanent  accommodations  for  one  thousand 
animals,  so  arranged  that  a  long  voyage  could  be 
made  without  any  serious  loss  of  stock.  Their  free- 
board is  exceptionally  high,  and  their  immense  deck 
room  would  allow  transportation  of  many  guns  and 
troops.  The  cabin  accommodations  are  ample;  in 
fact,  if  these  ships  had  been  especially  built  for  use 
as  transports  they  could  scarcely  be  constructed 
in  a  more  available  manner.  Tliey  are  not  as  fast  as 
some  of  the  mail  steamers,  but  they  are  fast  enough 

212 


Transportation    of   Troops   by   Sea 

to  keep  up  to  any  convoy,  and  what  they  lack  in 
speed  they  make  up  in  steadiness.  I  crossed  in 
the  Minnehaha  during  the  most  violent  part  of 
the  great  storm  that  swept  across  Galveston,  and 
although  the  seas  ran  mountains  high  it  was  not 
found  necessary  to  put  the  racks  on  the  tables  save 
one  day,  and  even  then  they  were  not  really  needed. 
The  steady  running  is  due  to  the  broad  bottom  and 
the  extra  wide  bilge-keels.  If  some  heavy  rapid- 
fire  guns  were  mounted  on  these  ships,  as  they  were 
put  on  the  American  liners,  the  St.  Paul  and  the 
St.  Louis,  they  would  make  the  best  transports  ever 
seen ;  they  could  go  almost  anywhere  without  con- 
voy of  warships,  and  still  take  care  of  themselves. 

Were  it  permitted  by  the  laws  of  this  country 
these  ships,  as  well  as  every  other  of  the  Atlantic 
Transport  Line,  would  fly  the  American  flag  imme- 
diately. 

Hospital  ships  have  played  an  important  part  in 
the  wars  of  the  past  three  years,  and  they  have 
become  a  necessary  adjunct  to  the  transportation 
department  of  the  army.  All  of  our  new  transports 
are  fitted  out  with  hospital  appliances;  but  separate 
vessels  for  nothing  but  hospital  work  have  been 
equipped,  and  have  done  excellent  work  in  both  the 
Spanish-American  and  the  South  African  wars. 

When  the  negotiations  were  opened  by  the  United 
States  Government  for  the  purchase  of  ships  to  be 
used  as  transports,  it  was  also  determined  to  fit  out 
one  as  a  hospital  ship,  to  be  used  with  the  fleet  or  to 
be  stationed  at  any  port  which  the  operations  might 

213 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


include.  Mr.  B.  N.  Baker,  president  of  the  Atlantic 
Transport  Line,  tendered  to  the  government  the 
choice  of  his  ships  for  hospital  service,  fully  manned 
and  free  of  expense  to  the  government,  and  further- 
more made  his  offer  to  cover  the  indefinite  period  of 
"  the  continuance  of  the  war."  The  Missouri  was 
chosen  as  the  ship  best  suited  to  the  work,  and  she 
was  found  so  valuable  for  this  purpose  that,  after 
the  war,  the  government  purchased  her  at  an  ex- 
ceedingly low  figure. 

The  Missouri  has  had  a  romantic  life  ever 
since  she  has  been  afloat,  and  has  seemed  destined 
to  be  a  life  saver  and  general  benefactor  to  man- 
kind in  distress.  On  April  5,  1889,  the  Missouri 
overhauled  the  Denmark,  of  Copenhagen,  which 
was  in  a  sinking  condition,  having  on  board  over 
seven  hundred  souls.  The  Missouri  stood  by  and 
threw  her  entire  cargo  into  the  sea  in  order  to 
take  on  this  load  of  human  freight.  Not  a  soul 
was  lost,  and  the  heroism  of  that  day's  work  was 
rewarded  by  decorations  and  medals  from  nearly 
every  kingdom  of  Europe.  The  insurance  compa- 
nies offered  to  pay  the  loss  of  the  cargo,  as  though 
it  had  been  lost  by  wreck;  but  the  owners  would 
not  accept  this,  taking  the  entire  loss  themselves. 
In  1892  the  Missouri  carried  the  gift  of  a  load  of 
flour  to  the  famine-stricken  people  of  Russia,  the 
company  furnishing  the  crew,  fuel,  and  cost  of  trans- 
portation. During  this  year  she  picked  up  two 
more  ships  at  sea — the  Delaware  and  the  Bertha 
— and  towed  them  safely  into  port.     There  is  thus 

214 


Transportation    of  Troops    by    Sea 

a  poetic  fitness  that  this  ordinary  freighter,  which 
has  been  the  cause  of  saving  thousands  of  lives, 
should  have  become  a  regular  hospital  ship  in  the 
government  service. 

In  recognition  of  this  magnificent  gift,  prompted 
by  true  patriotism,  Congress  passed  the  following 
resolution: 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, That  in  recognition  of  the  patriotism 
and  generosity  of  Bernard  N.  Baker  in  donating 
the  use  of  the  steamship  Missouri  to  the  United 
States,  with  the  services  of  her  captain  and  crew, 
during  the  war  with  Spain,  the  cordial  thanks  of 
Congress  are  hereby  tendered  to  him,  and  Congress 
hereby  authorizes  and  directs  that  a  gold  medal  with 
appropriate  design  be  prepared  by  the  Director  of 
the  Mint,  and  that  said  medal  be  presented  to  him 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States  at  such  time 
as  he  may  determine." 

Mr.  Baker  repeated  his  generous  offer  when  he 
gave  the  Maine  to  the  American  ladies  in  London 
to  be  fitted  out  as  a  hospital  ship  similar  to  the 
Missouri.  Lady  Randolph  Churchill  (now  Mrs. 
Cornwallis  West,  Jr.)  took  the  matter  in  charge  and 
worked  unremittingly  until  the  ship  was  sent  to 
South  Africa  fully  equipped.  From  October,  1899, 
to  July,  1900,  the  Maine  ministered  to  the  needs 
of  the  sick  and  wounded  from  South  Africa. 
Then  she  sailed  for  Chinese  waters,  there  to  under- 
take the  nursing  of  the  British  and  American 
soldiers  alike.      All  this  time  she  has  been  manned, 

213 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


coaled,  and  run  by  Mr.  Baker  entirely  at  his  own 
expense. 

The  transportation  of  troops  at  sea  is  a  problem 
of  the  first  importance  in  war.  The  government  of 
the  United  States  has  solved  it  for  the  present  by 
purchasing  and  equipping  a  fleet  of  model  trans- 
ports. Great  Britain  has  solved  it  by  abandoning 
her  former  fleet  of  government  ships  and  using  her 
immense  merchant  marine.  Her  conspicuous  suc- 
cess in  carrying  promptly  and  comfortably  over 
200,000  soldiers  to  South  Africa  shows  that  the  re- 
source was  ample  and  that  she  fully  understands  the 
work.  The  men  in  khaki  fared  well  on  their  long 
journey  to  the  south,  and  the  absence  of  any  com- 
plaints speaks  well  for  the  staff  of  the  British  army 
which  had  the  task  in  hand.  But  the  chief  secret  of 
the  success  was  in  the  fact  that  there  were  ships 
without  limit  for  selection,  and  only  the  best  and 
largest  and  swiftest  were  chosen.  At  the  same  time 
they  did  not  find  it  necessary  to  disturb  the  trans- 
atlantic commerce  by  drawing  off  the  great  liners. 

It  is  not  a  pleasant  comparison  when  one  thinks 
that  Great  Britain  sent  the  greatest  army  she  ever 
brought  together  to  almost  the  remotest  quarter  of 
the  globe  without  any  apparent  effect  on  sea-going 
trafific,  while  the  United  States  in  1898  had  to 
scrape  together  every  hulk  that  would  float  in  order 
to  transport  a  single  army  corps  a  few  hundred 
miles. 


216 


CHAPTER    IX. 


The  Last  Days  of  the  Boer  Capital 

EFORE  the  British  advance 
reached  Johannesburg  one 
would  never  have  known,  by 
merely  taking  note  of  the  life  in 
Pretoria,  that  a  fierce  war  was 
being  waged  in  the  country.  The 
ladies  went  on  with  their  calling 
and  shopping,  business  houses  car- 
ried on  their  work  as  usual,  and  the 
hotels  were  crowded  with  a  throng 
of  men  who  looked  more  like  specu- 
lators in  a  new  country  than  men 
fighting  for  their  homes  and  liberty. 
The  night  I  arrived  in  Pretoria 
the  train  pulled  into  the  station 
just  after  dark,  and  the  street  lights  gave  the 
place  an  air  of  mystery.  The  blackness  of  the 
night  heightened  one's  imagination  of  possible 
plots  and  attempted  escapes,  of  spies  and  sudden 
attacks.  A  big  Scotchman,  who  told  me  his  name 
was  "  Jack,"  shared  the  compartment  with  me;  he 
was  returning  from  the  front,  where  he  had  been 
fighting  for   his  adopted   country.      He   carried   a 

217 


Mr.  R.  H.  Davis 
in  Pretoria. 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


Mauser,  and  over  his  shoulder  was  slung  a  bando- 
lier of  cartridges;  these,  with  his  belt  and  canteen, 
made  up  his  entire  equipment.  His  pockets  were 
his  haversack,  his  big  tweed  coat  was  his  blanket. 
He  gave  me  the  first  idea  of  the  real  bitterness  of  the 
struggle,  for  he  said  he  would  rather  die  many  times 
over  than  give  up  to  the  British.  He  was  fighting 
against  men  of  his  own  blood,  perhaps  his  very  rela- 
tives; but  the  spirit  of  liberty  was  in  him,  and  he 
was  defending  the  home  he  had  built  in  this  far- 
away land. 

As  the  train  rolled  around  the  curve  into  Pretoria, 
the  Scotch  burgher  pointed  out  a  brilliant  circle  of 
lights  on  a  far  side  of  the  great  group  of  flickering 
yellow  lamps  which  showed  the  position  of  the 
town.  The  effect  of  mystery  deepened  as  I  peered 
out  at  the  station  platform  and  saw  little  groups  of 
men  huddled  together  in  the  radius  of  the  dazzling 
electric  arcs.  Here  and  there  a  solitary  figure  with 
a  rifle  walked  slowly  about.  The  doors  had  been 
locked  before  we  entered  the  town,  and  no  one  was 
allowed  to  leave  the  train  until  an  oflficial  with  a 
decidedly  English  air  had  examined  all  the  pass- 
ports. I  wondered  whether  I  should  be  able  to 
make  myself  understood,  and  whether,  in  case  I 
were  mistaken  for  a  British  spy,  I  should  be  fol- 
lowed by  some  secret  agent  of  the  Republic.  Sud- 
denly a  sharp  cry  at  my  door  broke  in  upon  my 
fanciful  surmises. 

"  Free  'bus  to  the  Transvaal  Hotel,"  shouted  a 
voice  from  the  figure  outlined  against  the  bright  light. 

218 


The    Last   Days   of  the    Boer   Capital 

"  Grand  Hotel  !  The  Grand  !  Grand  Hotel  !*' 
and  in  another  instant  I  was  wrestling  against  an  un- 
seen hand  for  the  possession  of  my  luggage. 

"  Cab,  sir  ?     Cab  up-town,  sir  ?  " 

My  dream  of  war's  mysteries  was  shattered  in  an 
instant,  and  I  found  myself  on  earth  again,  with  the 
feeling  that  I  was  just  arriving  at  the  San  Francisco 
ferry  from  an  overland  train.  In  another  moment  I 
was  in  a  hotel  omnibus  illuminated  with  a  dingy, 
smoking  oil  lamp  at  the  front  end.  Under  the  lamp 
there  was  a  little  sign  imparting  the  information 
that  the  vehicle  had  been  built  in  Philadelphia.  We 
rumbled  along  over  the  rough  streets,  and  the  win- 
dows rattled  in  true  hotel  'bus  fashion.  We  pulled 
up  at  a  hotel,  and  a  porter  greeted  us  with  a  six- 
pence's worth  of  politeness  and  assistance.  "  Good 
evening,  sir,"  he  remarked,  with  a"  Dooley  "  accent 
which  was  pleasantly  reassuring. 

The  clerk  at  the  desk  cordially  called  me  by  name 
— after  I  had  registered — and  informed  me  that  he 
could  give  me  a  room  at  the  top  of  the  house  for  five 
dollars  a  day.  After  depositing  my  belongings  I  took 
a  look  at  the  crowd  of  men  in  the  hotel  office.  I  was 
reminded  of  the  gatherings  in  a  California  "  boom 
town  "  hotel,  or  of  a  Colorado  mining  camp.  There 
were  men  of  all  nations  and  in  all  sorts  of  dress;  but 
the  prevalence  of  top  boots  and  leggins  gave  to  the 
crowd  a  peculiarly  Western  look.  Rifles  stood  in 
the  corners  of  the  room,  but  except  for  this  item 
there  was  nothing  about  the  men  to  denote  their 
connection   with  the  war.      They   were  nearly  all 

219 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


speaking  English.  By  that  time  I  began  to  feel 
that  I  had  been  cheated,  for  I  wanted  to  hear  some 
Dutch.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  in  all  my  stay  in 
the  Transvaal  I  found  absolutely  no  use  for  any  but 
my  own  tongue. 

Mr.  Thomas  Leggett,  the  California  mining  engi- 
neer who,  after  twelve  years'  residence  in  South 
Africa,  rose  to  be  the  leading  engineer  in  that  coun- 
try, told  me  that  he  did  not  know  five  words  of 
Dutch  even  after  his  long  stay  among  the  Boers, 
and,  moreover,  that  he  had  had  no  occasion  what- 
ever to  use  that  language. 

When  I  first  met  the  family  of  Secretary  Reitz,  I 
asked  a  little  boy  of  about  ten  if  he  spoke  English. 
No,    sir,"   he  exclaimed   with  emphasis;  "  we 
don't  speak  English  down  here — we  speak  Ameri- 
can." 

There  was  formerly  a  complaint  that  the  English 
language  was  not  taught  in  the  schools,  but  the 
assertion  proved  erroneous,  and  to-day  it  is  the 
common  tongue  of  the  towns  and  cities  of  South 
Africa. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  war  but  few  Americans  had 
lived  in  Pretoria,  consequently  the  official  duties  of 
our  consul  to  that  place  had  not  been  onerous. 
When  the  war  broke  out,  Mr.  Macrum  was  the  rep- 
resentative of  our  government;  but,  owing  to  what 
appeared  to  be  an  excess  of  desire  to  aid  the  burgh- 
ers' cause,  he  overstepped  the  diplomatic  reserve 
and  was  recalled.  Several  South  African  officials 
told  me  that  he  had  acted  unwisely  in  endeavoring 


The    Last    Days   of    the    Boer    Capital 

to  do  too  much,  and  that  had  he  been  more  discreet 
he  might  have  been  of  material  assistance  to  them. 
When  Mr.  Macrum  was  recalled,  the  Hon.  Adelbert 
S.  Hay,  son  of  Secretary  of  State  Hay,  was  ap- 
pointed to  fill  the  position  that  had  now  become  a 
post  of  great  importance.  There  was  much  specu- 
lation as  to  the  new  American  consul's  ability  to  fill 
the  place,  and  he  was  received  with  some  misgivings 
by  the  statesmen  of  the  Transvaal,  for  fear  his  sen- 
timents were  in  favor  of  their  enemy.  But  his  years 
of  training  in  affairs  of  state  under  his  father,  both 
at  home  and  at  the  embassy  in  London,  had  made 
him  equal  to  the  task.  In  a  very  few  days  he 
proved  himself  to  be  a  thorough  diplomatist,  and  he 
came  to  be  heartily  liked  by  all  the  burghers  who 
were  brought  in  contact  with  him. 

Mr.  Hay  had  the  sole  charge  of  all  British  inter- 
ests, as  well  as  the  care  of  the  thousands  of  English 
prisoners  who  were  in  Pretoria,  and  of  the  transmis- 
sion of  all  letters  and  moneys.  All  these  duties  he 
performed  without  arousing  the  slightest  animosity 
on  the  part  of  the  Boers.  No  American  of  any 
class  ever  went  to  the  consulate  on  business,  for  a 
social  call,  or  from  idle  curiosity,  without  receiving 
a  hearty  welcome  from  the  consul.  And  to  please 
unanimously  the  crowd  of  resident  Americans,  sol- 
diers of  fortune,  correspondents,  doctors,  and  ne'er- 
do-wells,  was  in  itself  enough  to  show  his  worth 
as  a  diplomatist.  Mr.  Gardner  F.  Coolidge,  of 
Boston,  was  the  vice-consul,  and  in  cordial  service 
and  discreetness  he  proved  to  be  made  of  the  same 

221 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


Consul  Hay  and  Vice-  Con- 
sul Coolidge  bidding  good- 
by  to  Captain  Slocutn  at 
Pretoria. 


stuff  as  his  chief.  They 
attended  not  only  to 
their  own  official  affairs, 
as  well  as  the  British 
interests,  but  they  were 
often  called  upon  to 
assist  men  of  other  na- 
tionalities, which  they 
did  as  willingly  as 
though  they  had  noth- 
ing else  to  do. 

During  the  few  weeks 
before  the  British  oc- 
cupation there  was 
hardly  a  ripple  of  ex- 
citement among  the 
people  of  Pretoria;  in  fact,  there  was  more  South 
African  war  talk  in  Washington  and  New  York 
when  I  left  the  United  States  than  I  heard  in  the 
capital  of  the  Republic  most  interested. 

President  Kruger  was  the  center  of  all  interest, 
although  when  any  of  the  hundreds  of  foreigners 
that  swarmed  the  place  wanted  anything,  they  went 
to  Secretary  Reitz,  who  seemed  to  have  more  power 
than  even  the  President  himself. 

My  last  meeting  with  President  Kruger  was  on 
the  occasion  of  the  presentation  of  the  celebrated 
message  of  sympathy  from  30,000  Philadelphia 
schoolboys.  The  voluminous  document  was  deliv- 
ered by  James  Smith,  a  New  York  American  Dis- 
trict Messenger  boy,  who  was  accompanied  by  one 

222 


The    Last   Days   of  the    Boer    Capital 

of  the  editors  of  a  Philadelphia  newspaper,  Mr. 
Hugh  Sutherland.  This  opportunity  afforded  an 
excellent  chance  to  study  the  wonderful  old  man 
who  has  piloted  the  Cape  Dutch  through  so  many 
national  storms. 

If  President  Kriiger  had  been  a  handsome,  pol- 
ished, and  dignified  man  the  world's  opinion  of  the 
Transvaal  burgher  would  have  been  entirely  differ- 
ent, for  the  descriptions  of  the  typical  Boer  have  had 
their  origin  in  his  personality.  He  is  far  from  pre- 
possessing; he  is  entirely  lacking  in  polish  or  dis- 
tinction of  appearance.  He  wears  a  shabby  frock 
coat  that  looks  as  though  it  had  never  been  brushed 
or  cleaned  since  the  day  it  left  a  ready-made  stock. 
His  clothes,  however,  are  not  the  most  notable  nor 
the  most  repellent  characteristic  of  the  head  of  the 
Transvaal  government.  Mr.  Kruger  smokes  a  pipe 
incessantly,  and  has  an  unpleasant  habit  of  expec- 
torating in  any  place  that  pleases  his  momentary 
fancy,  and  with  very  little  accuracy  of  aim ;  even 
the  front  of  his  clothes  shows  signs  of  this  habit.  His 
eyes  are  inflamed,  and  are  seemingly  afflicted  with 
some  ophthalmic  disease  which  causes  the  lids  to 
show  lines  of  red  under  the  eyeball.  His  hair  and 
beard  are  unkempt,  except  on  state  occasions  and 
Sundays,  when  they  are  brushed  to  an  oiled  nicety. 
His  hands  are  heavy,  as  though  from  great  toil ;  but 
when  he  shook  hands,  he  did  so  in  the  cordial  manner 
of  one  who  wished  to  show  a  heartfelt  welcome  to 
his  guest. 

Secretary  of  State  Reitz  arranged  this  meeting  at 
223 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


which  Jimmie  Smith  should  present  the  message  he 
had  carried  so  far,  and  when  the  Httle  party  arrived 
at  the  President's  house,  he  was  waiting  to  receive 
them  in  his  Hbrary. 

The  house  in  which  President  Kriiger  Hves  is  a 
Httle,  low,  unpretentious  cottage,  such  as  might  be 
owned  by  an  ordinarily  prosperous  mechanic  or 
tradesman  in  a  country  village.  It  is  a  one-story 
building,  with  a  wide  veranda  along  the  front.  On 
either  side  of  the  entrance  is  a  marble  figure  of  a 
reclining  lion,  the  gift  of  Barney  Barnalo  a  few  years 
ago,  when  he  wished  to  gain  favor  in  order  to  fur- 
ther some  of  the  great  schemes  which  eventually 
were  the  direct  cause  of  the  downfall  of  the  two 
South  African  republics. 

The  library  where  the  President  met  the  party 
was  a  dark  room  with  a  low  ceiling.  At  the  farther 
end  of  the  apartment  was  a  desk  table,  at  which  the 
Chief  Executive  sat.  The  ornaments  about  the  room 
were  tawdry  and  cheap,  showing  how  little  attention 
was  paid  to  appearance;  nevertheless,  everything 
was  scrupulously  clean.  Books  and  papers  were 
scattered  about  in  confusion ;  but,  as  we  afterwards 
learned,  this  grand  disorder  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  President  was  preparing  for  his  departure 
from  the  capital,  a  fugitive  from  the  conquerors  who 
were  even  then  just  outside  the  city. 

All  thought  of  the  peculiar  personal  appearance 
of  President  Kriiger  was  dispelled  when  he  spoke, 
or  even  when  he  was  listening  to  anything  of  impor- 
tance; for  he  conveyed  the  impression  of  being  the 

224 


The    Last    Days   of   the    Boer   Capital 

possessor  of  a  great  reserve  force,  and  of  a  wonder- 
ful mental  power  which  grasped  a  subject  instantly 
and  with  precision.  Once  in  touch  with  the  work- 
ings of  his  great  brain,  his  untidy  appearance  was 
forgotten,  and  you  thought  of  him  as  a  magnifi- 
cent relic  of  the  noble  Dutch  blood,  one  who  had 
reclaimed  a  new  continent  from  wild  beasts  and 
wilder  savages;  a  man  who  had  fought  his  way,  foot 
by  foot,  into  the  great  veldt  and  into  the  mountains, 
and  had  built  a  home  for  thousands  of  contented 
followers,  only  to  be  driven  out  by  a  more  powerful 
nation. 

At  the  time  when  the  messenger  boy  presented 
the  greetings  from  the  young  Americans,  the  Presi- 
dent was  visibly  worried  and  his  mind  was  evidently 
occupied  by  other  matters.  Within  a  few  hours  he 
expected  to  move  once  more  from  the  place  where 
he  had  settled,  as  he  had  done  when  he  was  a  young 
man.  But  this  time  he  was  to  go  he  knew  not 
where,  a  fugitive  from  an  overwhelming  foe. 

As  Mr.  Reitz  translated  the  speech  which  little 
Jimmie  Smith  cleverly  delivered  when  he  presented 
the  documents  he  carried,  the  President  listened  gra- 
ciously and  thanked  the  boy  heartily  for  the  expres- 
sions of  sympathy  conveyed  in  the  message.  Coming 
at  that  time,  it  must  have  given  him  some  little  hope 
that  the  first  republic  of  the  world  would  do  some- 
thing towards  saving  to  the  list  of  nations  these  two 
republics  of  South  Africa. 

A  granddaughter  of  President  Kriiger  told  me 
that,  after  he  left,  Mrs.  Kriiger,  who  stayed  in  Pre- 
15  225 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


toria,  spent  much  time 
reading  the  book  of 
American  newspaper 
and  magazine  cHppings 
regarding  the  Boer  war 
which  accompanied  the 
message  from  Philadel- 
phia. She  was  deeply 
gratified  to  note  the 
sympathetic  sentiments 
so  strongly  stated  in 
the  American  press. 

As  soon  as  the  pres- 
entation took  place  the 
President  shook  hands 
with  every  one  present, 
and  then  dismissed 
them  politely,  saying, 
"  You  must  excuse  me  now,  as  matters  of  great 
importance  concerning  the  state  occupy  my  mind." 
That  night,  just  before  midnight,  the  President  and 
Secretary  Reitz  left  Pretoria. 

James  Smith,  A.  D.  T.  Messenger,  No.  1534,  was 
well  chosen  for  his  mission,  and  he  proved  him- 
self to  be  worthy  of  the  task.  After  the  message 
was  delivered  he  stayed  in  Pretoria  for  several  weeks 
during  the  British  occupation.  During  the  battle  of 
Pretoria  he  amused  himself  by  running  about  in  the 
district  near  the  American  consulate,  where  the 
shells  were  falling  thickest,  picking  up  chunks  of  the 
deadly  missiles,   unmindful  of  the  great  danger  he 

226 


A.  D.  T.  Messenger  James 
Smith,  in  front  of  Presi- 
dent Kriigers  house,  im- 
mediately after  presenting 
the  message  frotn  the  Ameri- 
can children. 


The    Last   Days   of  the    Boer   Capital 

was  incurring.  Very  few  men  have  been  under  a 
heavier  fire  than  was  this  American  messenger  boy 
on  the  day  of  the  taking  of  Pretoria.  That  night  he 
told  of  how  he  waited  for  the  shells  to  explode,  and 
then  ran  and  picked  up  the  pieces  wherever  he  saw 
them  kick  up  the  dust. 

"  It  was  just  like  the  Fourth,"  was  his  comment 
on  an  all  day's  battle  which  did  as  much  to  reestab- 
lish England's  prestige  as  any  that  has  been  fought 
in  many  years.  The  fight  itself  lasted  but  one  day, 
but  the  effect  of  the  occupation  of  the  capital  of  the 
South  African  Republic  by  the  British  army  worked 
wonders  in  the  opinion  of  the  world  as  to  the  prog- 
ress of  the  war. 

As  Lord  Roberts's  army  came  nearer  and  nearer 
to  the  doomed  capital,  the  excitement  grew  more 
intense  and  the  air  was  filled  with  alarming  rumors. 
General  Botha  came  back  to  Pretoria  and  established 
his  headquarters  there  in  order  to  reconstruct  his 
forces,  which  were  badly  scattered,  and  to  provision 
them  from  the  government  stores.  Extra  calls  for 
burghers  to  rally  to  the  cause  were  issued  every  day 
and  were  responded  to  by  hundreds.  Pretoria  was 
the  turning  point  of  the  war,  at  which  men  were 
called  on  to  decide  for  themselves  whether  they 
would  continue  the  struggle  to  the  bitter  end,  or 
leave  on  the  last  trains  for  Delagoa  Bay  and  sail  for 
Europe,  or  remain  in  the  city  and  quietly  allow  the 
British  to  overtake  them,  thus  being  possibly  over- 
looked among  the  hundreds  of  peaceable  citizens. 

Arms  were  issued  from  the  arsenal  to  all  those 
227 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


who  wished  to  continue  the  fight  or  who  wished  to 
cast  their  lot  for  the  first  time  with  the  army  of  the 
two  states.  There  were  arms  and  ammunition  in 
abundance  for  hundreds  more  men  than  came  to 
take  them,  for  the  supply  had  been  laid  in  with  the 
idea  of  eventually  arming  every  man  and  boy  in  the 
Transvaal.  Many  of  the  burghers  exchanged  their 
well-battered  rifles  for  new  ones;  all  filled  their  am- 
munition belts,  and  took  in  other  ways  all  they  could 
besides. 

Hundreds  responded  to  the  final  call  to  arms. 
Many  burghers  collected  their  entire  families  and 
secured  arms  for  them  to  assist  in  the  struggle.  It 
is  not  possible  for  any  one  who  has  not  seen  that 
army  fighting  in  South  Africa  to  realize  how  deadly 
is  their  earnestness.  Some  of  the  men  are  so  old  as 
to  appear  incapable  of  sitting  in  a  saddle  for  a  march 
of  even  a  few  miles,  to  say  nothing  of  the  marches 
they  often  make,  covering  several  days.  There  are 
young  men  in  the  prime  of  life,  strong  and  sturdy; 
there  are  boys  in  knee  trousers,  who  do  not  look  old 
enough  to  have  sufificient  strength  to  endure  the 
hardships  of  war  or  to  know  how  to  do  any  real 
fighting.  There  are  even  women  who  have  followed 
their  husbands  or  brothers  through  it  all,  attending 
the  wounded,  and  cooking  when  necessary,  but  often 
going  into  the  fighting  line  and  matching  the  men 
with  a  rifle. 

The  Boer  army  entered  the  second  year  of  the 
war  a  far  more  formidable  force  than  the  one  that 
fought  through  the  first  year,  and  especially  during 

228 


:"1       i 


5 


■'->5S' 


'J'/te  battle  of  Pretoria  :  Boers  azvaiting  the 
British  advance  tinder  artillery  fire. 


^ 


The   battle  of   Pretoria  :     British   naval 
guns  shelling  forts. 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


the  first  months  of  the  war.  At  that  time  the  army- 
was  filled  with  men  who  had  been  commandeered 
and  who  were  compelled  to  go  into  the  field,  but 
who  were  not  obliged  to  fight,  and  often  did  not 
fight.  There  were  also  many  adventurers  from 
other  nations,  seeking  a  little  fame,  and  perhaps 
fortune.  But  now  there  is  not  a  man  in  the  field 
who  is  not  there  to  fight,  and  when  they  went  out 
ot  Pretoria  they  knew  they  were  burning  their 
bridges  behind  them.  It  was  for  this  reason  that 
fathers  took  their  young  sons  with  them,  and  it  was 
for  the  same  reason  that  the  women  followed  the  men. 

One  day  I  was  in  General  Botha's  headquarters, 
just  before  he  was  leaving  Pretoria  for  good,  when 
an  old  gray-haired  burgher  came  in  to  see  him.  He 
waited  some  minutes,  as  the  general  was  busy,  but 
finally  stepped  up  to  his  desk.  He  did  not  give  the 
regulation  military  salute,  but  merely  shook  hands 
with  General  Botha  and  wished  him  health  in  the 
Dutch  fashion. 

"  What  can  I  do  for  you  ?  "  asked  the  Boer  leader, 
still  looking  over  some  papers  before  him. 

"  I  would  like  to  get  an  order  for  a  carbine  from 
you,"  answered  the  burgher. 

"  You  cannot  get  a  carbine,  for  they  are  very 
scarce  just  now,  and  every  one  seems  to  want  them; 
but  I  will  give  you  an  order  on  the  commandant  at 
the  arsenal  for  a  rifle,"  said  the  general,  and  he 
began  to  write  the  order  at  once. 

"  Well,  I'm  sorry;  but  a  rifle  won't  do,"  hesi- 
tated the  man. 

230 


The    Last    Days   of  the    Boer   Capital 

General  Botha  looked  up  quickly,  and  said  with 
some  sharpness: 

I'd  like  to  know  why  a  rifle  won't  do;  you  will 
use  a  rifle  or  nothing." 

The  old  burgher  still  hesitated;  then  finally  said, 

I'd  just  as  soon  have  a  rifle,  but  I'm  afraid  my 
boy  isn't  big  enough  to  carry  one."  He  turned  and 
motioned  to  a  little  smooth-faced  lad  to  come  for- 
ward. 

He  was  not  yet  ten  years  old — a  bashful  yet 
manly  little  fellow,  ready  to  follow  his  grandfather 
and  to  fight  for  the  cause  for  which  his  father  had 
died.  Not  big  enough  to  carry  a  rifle,  he  must 
needs  fight  with  a  carbine.     He  got  his  carbine. 

This  incident  is  typical  of  the  spirit  that  prevails 
among  the  Boers  who  are  now  in  the  field,  and  it  is 
that  unconquerable  spirit  that  will  fight  on  as  long 
as  there  is  a  man  still  free  on  the  wide  veldt  or  in 
the  mountains. 

It  was  thought  at  first  that  the  capital  would  be 
defended  to  the  last,  according  to  the  intention 
when  the  forts  were  first  built.  But  after  long 
debate  it  was  decided  that  Pretoria  should  not  be 
defended,  and  two  very  excellent  reasons  were  given 
for  abandoning  the  capital  to  the  British  without 
resistance.  One  was  that  the  ofificials  did  not  wish 
to  subject  their  families  and  the  families  of  their  men 
to  the  suffering  of  a  siege,  or  their  buildings  to  the 
mercy  of  the  British  guns.  The  principal  reason, 
however,  was  that  if  they  should  defend  the  capital 
it  would  be  necessary  to   use  all  the  troops  of  the 

231 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


General  De  la  Rey  and  staff  at  Pretoria  ; 
his  nephew,  twelve  years  old,  is  serving 
on  the  staff. 

Transvaal  army  and  would  allow  the  English  troops 
to  surround  them,  cutting  off  all  possibility  of  escape 
or  retreat.  Thus  their  cause  would  be  lost.  But 
with  the  removal  of  their  forces  to  the  high  veldt  or 
to  the  mountains  they  could  continue  the  struggle 
many  months. 

An  air  of  suppressed  excitement  pervaded  all 
Pretoria  when  the  people  knew  that  the  Volksraad 
was  in  session  to  decide  the  fate  of  the  city.  It 
meant  either  a  long  period  of  suffering  or  British 
occupation  within  a  very  few  days.  Little  knots  of 
men  gathered  here  and  there  to  discuss  the  situation 
and  to  speculate  on  the  result  of  the  deliberations 
of  the  few  men  who  held  the  fate  of  all  in  their 
hands. 

Finally  the  word  came — it  was  "Retreat."  Once 
more  they  were  to  retire  before  the  hordes  of  khaki 
that  were  steadily  pouring   in   from  all  directions. 

232 


The    Last   Days   of  the    Boer    Capital 


Field  cornets  in  Pretoria  receiving  orders  from  a  general. 


There  were  no  noisy  newsboys  shouting  "  Extra  !  " 
There  were  no  bulletins  placarded  in  public  places. 
But  the  news  seemed  to  proclaim  itself  in  the  very 
air.  From  mouth  to  mouth  it  flew,  carrying  with  it 
feelings  of  terror,  defiance,  and  sadness.  The  mo- 
ment which  had  been  half  expected  and  dreaded  for 
years  had  come  at  last.  Their  enemy  was  upon 
them  in  irresistible  force,  and  they  were  to  abandon 
their  homes  and  their  chief  city  to  the  foe.  The 
little  groups  of  men  melted  away  as  if  by  magic, 
and  the  streets  were  suddenly  alive  with  a  hurrying 
mass  of  people,  each  person  with  but  one  thought 
— to  escape  before  the  British  arrived.  The  town 
was  filled  with  rumors  of  the  movements  of  the 
enemy,  and  runners  said  that  they  would  be  upon 
us  within  a  few  hours;  that  the  advance  was  already 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  town ;  that  Botha  had  been 
defeated ;  that  Pretoria  was  completely  surrounded 

233 


Blue    Shirt   and   Khaki 


— every  runner  had  some  kind  of  unpleasant  news  to 
tell. 

During  the  next  hour  or  so  men  were  obliged  to 
decide  quickly  what  was  to  be  done  with  their  fami- 
lies and  personal  effects.  It  was  the  crucial  moment 
of  the  war,  as  it  was  then  thought  that  it  was  but  a 
matter  of  minutes  before  the  British  would  arrive. 

I  happened  to  be  at  the  railway  station  on  the 
night  the  President  and  Secretary  Reitz  left  with  the 
State  documents  and  moneys,  removing  the  capital 
and  head  of  the  government  from  Pretoria.  About 
half-past  eleven  a  special  train,  consisting  of  three 
or  four  luggage  vans,  a  few  passenger  carriages,  a 
few  goods  carriages,  and,  at  the  end,  the  President's 
private  coach.  Nothing  had  been  said  about  the 
removal,  but  from  some  remark  coming  from  Mr. 
Reitz  I  imagined  that  something  unusual  was  about 
to  happen,  and  therefore  awaited  developments. 
There  was  no  unwonted  excitement  about  the  sta- 
tion, and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  burghers  who 
were  awaiting  the  departure  of  the  train,  there  was 
no  one  about  except  Mr.  Sutherland  and  myself. 
In  a  few  moments  a  small  wagon  drove  hurriedly  up 
to  the  station,  a  couple  of  men  jumped  out  and 
gave  orders  to  the  driver  to  drive  out  on  the  plat- 
form near  the  train ;  this  being  done,  they  began  to 
transfer  a  load  of  books  and  papers  into  the  luggage 
van.  Another  cart  arrived  before  the  first  one  was 
emptied,  also  containing  huge  bundles  of  papers  and 
documents.  During  the  next  half  hour  there  came 
a  stream   of  vehicles  of  every  description,   loaded 

234 


Boer  women  bidding  good-by  to  their  men  off  for  the  front. 


Russian    hospital  corps    7vilh    the    Boers :    the 
wounded  man  is  Colonel  Biake,  formerly  U.  S.  A. 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


with  bags  of  gold  and  silver.  Even  cabs  had  been 
pressed  into  the  service  of  transferring  the  treasure 
of  the  state  from  the  mint  to  the  train.  Bars  of  the 
precious  metal  were  thrown  out  of  the  cabs  or 
wagons  like  so  much  rubbish. 

There  was  bustle  and  activity,  but  no  noise  and 
no  excitement.  A  few  burghers  on  the  platform 
crowded  about  in  the  glare  of  the  electric  light, 
to  watch  the  work  ;  but  there  was  hardly  a  word 
spoken,  except  an  occasional  command  from  one  of 
the  clerks  attending  to  the  removal.  Cab  after  cab 
drove  up  to  the  station  without  any  guard  what- 
ever; some  of  them,  containing  as  much  as  ^20,000 
in  sovereigns,  had  been  driven  by  boys  through  the 
dark  streets  from  the  treasury  to  the  station.  The 
cabs  were  hurriedly  unloaded  and  sent  back  for  an- 
other load,  while  the  men  on  the  platform  were 
busily  throwing  the  bags  and  bars  into  the  car. 

One  boy  had  driven  away  a  hundred  yards  into 
the  darkness  when  he  called  out  that  there  was  a 
sack  in  his  cab  that  had  been  overlooked.  An  at- 
tendant went  after  it  and  brought  it  back — a  sack 
containing  several  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  gold 
coin. 

It  was  an  extraordinary  sight,  under  the  glare  of 
the  electric  lights,  to  see  this  train  being  loaded 
with  all  that  was  left  of  the  capital  of  the  Republic. 
It  was  done  decently  and  rapidly.  As  soon  as  the 
last  sack  of  gold  was  transferred  to  the  train  the 
doors  were  closed.  Secretary  Reitz  alighted  from  a 
cab  and  walked  towards  the  train.     As  he  passed 

236 


The    Last    Days   of  the    Boer   Capital 

under  the  light  I  saw  an  expression  of  sadness  and 
anxiety  on  his  face  that  forbade  my  speaking,  al- 
though I  knew  him  well  and  realized  that  I  might 
not  see  him  again.  He  entered  the  private  car^ 
and  in  a  few  moments  the  train  departed,  President 
Kriiger  boarding  it  a  few  blocks  from  the  station, 
and  for  a  few  weeks  the  capital  of  the  South  African 
Republic  was  on  wheels. 

Many  have  blamed  President  Kriiger  for  running 
away,  as  they  call  it,  and  for  leaving  the  country 
and  going  to  Europe.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that 
he  was  pursuing  the  proper  course.  He  was  an  old 
man,  much  too  feeble  to  follow  the  commands  in 
their  marches  through  the  mountains.  Had  he 
attempted  to  do  this  he  would  have  been  merely  a 
hindrance  to  the  rapid  movements  of  the  army. 
He  is  charged  with  taking  away  gold  for  his  per- 
sonal use;  but  if  he  took  any  of  the  state  funds  with 
him  I  do  not  think  they  were  for  his  own  use.  He 
is  a  very  wealthy  man.  Money  was  of  no  value  to 
the  burghers  in  the  field,  but  it  could  be  used  in 
Europe  to  their  advantage.  It  would  have  availed 
nothing  for  Mr.  Kriiger  to  remain  in  the  Transvaal 
only  to  be  captured  and  sent  to  St.  Helena.  Such 
an  event  would  have  helped  the  British  immensely, 
and  would  have  given  a  certain  plausibility  to  the 
assertion  that  the  war  was  over.  The  criticism 
against  the  President  because  he  left  the  country 
was  confined  entirely  to  those  who  ran  away  them- 
selves, for  among  the  loyalists  in  Pretoria  there  was 
not  a  word  of  complaint  against  his  course. 

237 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


One  commandant  reminded  me  that  the  capital 
of  the  United  States  of  America  was  for  months 
wherever  General  Washington's  headquarters  were, 
and  that  even  in  the  war  of  1812  the  capital  was 
removed  before  the  advance  of  the  British  on  the 
city  of  Washington.  He  asked  if  any  one  had  ever 
criticised  the  American  President  for  not  remaining 
to  be  taken  prisoner,  or  for  not  leaving  the  gold  in 
the  treasury  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

Following  the  departure  of  the  President  and 
other  officials,  on  the  last  of  May,  came  a  couple  of 
days  of  panic,  during  which  all  sorts  of  rumors  flew 
about,  while  the  lawless  element  of  the  town  played 
havoc.  As  soon  as  it  was  decided  to  abandon  the 
capital,  all  the  government  stores  which  had  been 
gathered  for  the  use  of  the  army  in  the  event  of  a 
siege  were  turned  over  to  the  people  for  their  own 
use.  The  stores,  which  were  in  large  warehouses, 
were  broken  open  and  rifled  by  a  wild,  excited 
crowd  from  every  station  of  society.  Well-dressed 
men  and  women  jostled  with  half-naked  Kaffirs  in 
their  efforts  to  secure  a  goodly  share  of  the  stores. 
Every  sort  of  vehicle  was  brought  to  carry  away 
their  plunder.  Not  one  in  a  hundred  had  any  idea 
that  the  stores  had  been  turned  over  to  the  public 
by  the  officials  in  charge;  they  thought  they  were 
looting  without  permission,  and  were  correspond- 
ingly mad  with  excitement. 

The  doors  of  the  warehouses  proved  too  small  to 
admit  the  immense  crowd ;  then  they  tore  off  sheets 
of  the  corrugated  iron   of  which  the  building  was 

238 


The    Last   Days   of  the    Boer   Capital 

constructed,  so  that  they  could  get  at  the  contents 
more  quickly.  At  one  door  a  big  woman  stood 
guard  with  an  umbrella,  beating  back  any  of  the 
blacks  who  attempted  to  enter,  but  admitting  any 
white  person.  She  plied  her  weapon  on  the  heads 
of  the  blacks  when  they  came  within  reach,  and  it 
was  not  long  before  they  abandoned  the  attempt  to 
go  in  at  that  entrance.  The  looters  worked  in 
squads,  a  few  carrying  out  the  plunder  of  sugar, 
flour,  coffee,  and  other  stuffs,  while  some  stood 
guard  over  it  until  a  means  of  carrying  it  away  was 
found.  Wheelbarrows,  carts,  children's  wagons, 
and  baby  carriages  were  brought  into  service  to  take 
the  provisions  to  the  homes  of  the  people,  and  for 
several  hours  the  streets  were  alive  with  hurrying 
crowds.  Cabs  at  last  could  not  be  hired  at  any 
price,  as  the  cabmen  took  a  hand  on  their  own  ac- 
count in  the  general  looting. 

I  was  driving  past  the  main  warehouse  when  the 
scramble  for  plunder  began,  and  stopped  to  watch 
the  wild  scene.  In  a  few  moments  my  driver  caught 
the  fever  and  asked  permission  to  join  the  mob, 
saying  he  would  be  back  by  the  time  I  needed  him. 
He  carted  away  enough  sugar,  flour,  coffee,  and  can- 
dles to  last  him  a  year,  and  came  back  in  such  a 
happy  state  of  mind  that  he  did  not  want  to  accept 
any  fare  for  driving  me  about. 

Very  few  of  the  burghers  of  the  army  took  any 
hand  in  the  looting,  although  many  of  them  looked 
on  and  shook  their  heads  in  disapproval  that  so  much 
of  this  good  store  should  go  to  the  stay-at-homes. 

239 


Blue   Shirt   and    Khaki 


When  Lord  Roberts  occupied  the  capital  and 
heard  of  that  day's  work,  he  sent  a  large  detail  out 
to  search  for  the  plunder,  and  recovered  a  consider- 
able amount,  which  he  turned  over  to  the  use  of  his 
army. 

For  some  time  it  appeared  as  though  there  might 
be  serious  trouble,  and  that  the  looting  would  be 
extended  to  shops  and  banks.  Nearly  all  of  these 
barricaded  their  doors  and  windows  and  placed  a 
guard  inside.  A  plot  was  hatched  to  break  into  the 
Union  Bank,  which  was  known  to  be  British  in  sen- 
timent; consequently  all  the  bank  officials  spent 
several  days  and  nights  inside  the  building,  armed 
with  rifles,  to  protect  the  property.  The  attack  was 
not  made,  however,  probably  because  the  fact  of 
the  guarding  of  the  bank  was  known. 

During  all  this  time  the  burghers  were  retreating 
towards  Middleburg,  and  by  the  first  of  June  there 
were  not  half  a  dozen  of  the  army  left  in  the  capi- 
tal. Each  day  the  British  were  expected  to  march 
in,  but  they  did  not  come;  and  each  day  the  situa- 
tion became  more  serious,  until  finally  a  committee, 
appointed  by  a  proclamation  issued  by  General 
Botha,  formed  a  special  police  corps  for  the  protec- 
tion of  property  until  the  British  forces  should  arrive 
and  take  possession.  The  corps  was  composed  of 
all  the  foreign  consuls  and  their  attaches,  and  such 
men  as  were  not  directly  in  the  army.  At  the 
request  of  Mr.  Hay  I  was  sworn  in  and  received  a 
white  band  for  my  arm,  on  which  was  stenciled 
"  P.  C.  No.  i6i,"  and  a  pasteboard  card  imparting  the 

240 


The    Last   Days   of   the    Boer   Capital 

information  to  all  lawless  persons  that  I  was  author- 
ized to  take  them  to  jail.  But  an  officer  without 
the  backing  of  the  majesty  of  the  law  is  not  impres- 
sive, and  in  my  one  official  act  I  have  not  yet  decided 
who  came  out  ahead — only  the  other  fellow  didn't 
get  the  horse. 

When  the  retreating  burghers  began  to  straggle 
through  Pretoria  towards  the  north,  they  comman- 
deered any  horses  that  seemed  better  than  the  ones 
they  were  riding.  Cab  horses  and  carriage  horses 
were  outspanned  on  the  street,  and  the  vehicles  and 
harnesses  left  lying  on  the  ground.  Stables  were 
entered  and  the  best  of  the  stock  was  taken  for  re- 
mounts. As  a  war  proceeding  this  was  perfectly 
legitimate,  although  it  was  rather  hard  on  those  who 
lost  their  horses.  The  American  consul  drove  a  fine 
pair  of  large  Kentucky  animals,  which  were  probably 
the  finest  horses  in  the  town,  and  he  had  consid- 
erable difficulty  in  keeping  them.  Several  times  the 
burghers  began  to  unharness  them,  but  a  word  tell- 
ing them  to  whom  they  belonged  stopped  these 
orderly  robbers  in  their  attempt.  When  it  became 
known  that  many  unscrupulous  persons  were  taking 
dishonest  advantage  of  the  fact  that  the  commands 
were  taking  remounts  and  state  horses  under  the 
name  of  the  government,  an  order  was  issued  against 
commandeering  horses  for  any  purpose. 

After  this  state  of  unrest  and  terror  had  continued 

for  three  or  four  days  without  an  appearance  of  the 

British,   the  excitement  wore  off,    confidence   was 

restored,    and   many   of   the   burghers   of   General 

1 6  241 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


Botha's  command  who  had  retreated  now  returned 
to  the  city. 

The  last  Sunday  before  the  British  came  dawned 
quiet  and  peaceful  as  a  New  England  Sabbath;  not 
a  sign  of  war  was  to  be  seen ;  the  streets  were 
thronged  with  men,  women,  and  children  on  their 
way  to  church  to  pray  for  their  cause  and  their  dead. 
The  soldier  laid  aside  his  rifle  and  bandolier  for  the 
day,  and  not  one  was  to  be  seen  throughout  the 
crowds  which  were  moving  towards  their  respective 
places  of  worship,  while  the  bells  rang  summons  and 
welcome.  The  day  was  warm  enough  for  the 
women  to  wear  white  gowns,  which  served  to  make 
the  many  black  ones  the  more  noticeable.  The 
children  were  stiff  and  starched  in  their  Sunday 
cleanliness,  and  half  the  church-going  crowd  was 
composed  of  these  little  ones.  In  many  a  pew  there 
was  no  father  or  brother,  but  only  a!  sad-faced 
woman  in  sombre  black. 

The  churches  were  crowded  to  the  doors,  and  I 
tried  two  or  three  places  before  I  finally  gained  ad- 
mittance to  the  church  opposite  President  Kriiger's 
house,  where  he  had  himself  often  occupied  the 
pulpit.  It  was  a  typical  country  church,  such  as 
may  be  seen  in  hundreds  of  our  smaller  towns;  the 
windows  were  open,  and  a  soft  breeze  blew  gently 
through  the  room.  The  people  entered  deeply 
into  their  worship,  and  the  sadness  that  prevailed 
made  it  appear  like  a  service  over  the  dead  who  had 
fallen  in  battle.  Many  families  were  worshiping 
together   for   the   last    time,  for  on   the  morrow  a 

242 


Boers  under  heavy  shell  fire,  azuaiiing  British 
advance  behind  their  defenses. 


Burghers'  horses  during  battle  of  Pretoria. 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


battle  was  to  be  fought,  and  all  who  were  going  to 
continue  the  fight  were  to  be  separated  that  night 
from  their  loved  ones. 

There  was  not  one  in  the  whole  church  who  was 
not  weeping.  Near  me  sat  a  young  girl  of  about 
twenty,  who  sobbed  aloud  during  the  entire  service, 
as  though  her  heart  was  broken  beyond  all  comfort; 
and  I  afterwards  learned  that  her  father  and  four 
brothers  were  all  dead,  and  that  her  one  remaining 
brother  was  at  St.  Helena  with  Cronje,  In  the  pew 
in  front  of  me  sat  an  old  grizzled  burgher  with  a 
heavy  gray  beard ;  he  needed  no  rifle  to  show  that 
he  had  been  for  months  on  command,  for  his  face  was 
burned  by  wind  and  sun.  His  arm  was  around  his 
wife,  whose  head  rested  on  his  shoulder.  She  did 
not  weep,  but  at  frequent  intervals  she  huddled 
closer  to  him  and  grasped  his  arm  more  firmly,  as  if 
afraid  he  would  leave  her.  On  his  other  side  sat  a 
little  girl,  who  looked  around  with  big,  frightened 
eyes,  wondering  at  the  scene. 

The  pastor  preached  from  his  heart  a  sermon  of 
hope  and  encouragement,  his  words  being  inter- 
rupted by  the  sound  of  sobbing.  Hardly  a  man 
there  but  had  his  arm  supporting  the  woman  at  his 
side,  or  grasped  her  hand  in  his.  The  text  was  from 
Ezekiel,  xxxvii.  3-9: 

And  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  can  these  bones  live  ? 
And  I  answered,  O  Lord  God,  thou  knowest. 

Again  he  said  unto  me,  Prophesy  upon  these  bones,  and 
say  unto  them,  O  ye  dry  bones,  hear  the  word  of  the 
Lord. 

244 


The    Last   Days   of  the    Boer   Capital 

Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  unto  these  bones  ;  Behold, 
I  will  cause  breath  to  enter  into  you,  and  ye  shall 
live  : 

And  I  will  lay  sinews  upon  you,  and  will  bring  up  flesh 
upon  you,  and  cover  you  with  skin,  and  put  breath  in  you, 
and  ye  shall  live  ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
Lord. 

So  I  prophesied  as  I  was  commanded  :  and  as  I  prophesied, 
there  was  a  noise,  and  behold  a  shaking,  and  the  bones  came 
together,  bone  to  his  bone. 

And  when  I  beheld,  lo,  the  sinews  and  the  flesh  came  up 
upon  them,  and  the  skin  covered  them  above  :  but  there  was 
no  breath  in  them. 

Then  said  he  unto  me.  Prophesy  unto  the  wind,  prophesy, 
son  of  man,  and  say  to  the  wind.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ; 
Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath,  and  breathe  upon  these 
slain,  that  they  may  live. 


Tender,  with  infinite  pathos,  yet  manful,  and  with 
a  virile  faith  that  seemed  to  make  the  impossible 
actual,  the  sermon  went  on.  It  was  a  prophet's 
opportunity,  such  as  comes  to  but  few  preachers  in 
all  history,  to  stand  at  the  final  threshold  of  a 
nation's  life,  to  bid  farewell  to  the  men  leaving  for 
the  forlorn  hope  of  the  last  struggle,  and  to  embrace 
in  one  cry  of  faith  both  the  heartbreak  and  the  reso- 
lution of  a  people.  It  was  in  the  Dutch  tongue, 
but  the  preacher  repeated  it  to  me  in  English  the 
next  day,  and  I  was  the  witness  of  the  effect  of  its 
simple  eloquence  on  the  people. 

When  the  service  was  over,  there  was  a  solemn 
and  tearful  handshaking  before  the  congregation 
scattered  for  the  last  time  to  their  homes;  the  men 

245 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


to  buckle  on  their  bandoHers  and  rifles  for  the  next 
day's  battle,  the  women  to  pray  for  the  safety  of 
those  brave  hearts  so  dear  to  them,  or  to  weep 
alone  with  memories  of  those  they  had  loved  and 
lost. 


The  Boer  retreat  from  Pretoria. 


246 


CHAPTER    X. 
The  British  in  Pretoria 

ON  the  morning  of  the  fourth  of  June, 
1900,    the    British    troops    turned 
their  guns  on  Pretoria,  after  hun- 
_  dreds  of  miles  of  weary  marching, 

enhvened  with  only  a  few  fights  to 
break  the  monotony  of  the  work.  There 
was  not  much  defense,  as  it  had  been 
decided  that  there  should  be  no  oppo- 
sition to  the  enemy's  entrance;  but  as 
many  of  the  burghers  had  returned 
over  Sunday,  and  the  panic  of  a  few 
days  before  had  vanished,  they  were 
taking  away  more  stores  than  they  had 
at  first  intended.  Train-loads  of  troops 
and  refugees  were  leaving  Pretoria  every  hour;  there- 
fore General  De  la  Rey,  with  a  rear  guard,  was  detailed 
to  obstruct  the  advance  as  long  as  possible,  to  cover 
the  retreat  that  was  then  being  made  in  an  orderly 
manner.  He  had  but  fifteen  or  eighteen  hundred 
men  to  oppose  many  thousands,  but  as  he  had  the 
advantage  of  the  positions,  and  as  the  English  com- 
mander did  not  know  whether  the  forts  were  occupied 
and  armed,  he  was  able  to  hold  off  the  advance  all  day. 

247 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


The  fighting  consisted  almost  entirely  of  an  artil- 
lery bombardment  by  the  British  naval  guns  until 
noon,  when  the  right  of  the  Boer  line  was  heavily 
engaged,  and  the  rifle  and  machine-gun  fire  became 
very  fast. 

The  burghers  had  but  six  guns  with  which  to 
oppose  the  advance,  and  they  were  small  field 
pieces  that  could  not  be  put  into  action  until  the 
enemy  advanced  almost  within  rifle  range.  A  little 
before  dark  the  fighting  was  heavy  all  along  the 
line,  and  then  the  British  became  fully  convinced 
that  there  would  be  a  determined  defense  at  Pre- 
toria. They  were  very  much  disappointed  when 
they  discovered  that  the  burghers  had  waived  the 
defense  and  had  saved  themselves  for  a  struggle 
under  other  conditions.  All  day  long  two  of  the 
guns  shelled  one  of  the  forts  that  had  long  since 
been  abandoned,  but  as  it  was  an  advantageous 
position  from  which  to  witness  the  fighting,  some  of 
the  townspeople  had  gone  up  there  in  the  forenoon. 
They  were  seen  by  the  British,  and  were  naturally 
mistaken  for  soldiers,  consequently  they  were  sub- 
jected to  a  harmless  shell  fire.  In  the  afternoon 
the  invaders  brought  a  large  number  of  their  guns 
into  action,  and  the  shells  flew  thick  and  fast  over 
our  position,  occasionally  striking  and  exploding  at 
the  crest  under  which  we  were  lying.  Considering 
the  number  of  shells,  however,  very  little  damage 
was  done. 

All  through  the  day  the  two  wings  of  Lord  Rob- 
erts's army  kept  extending  farther  around  the  town, 

248 


The    British    in    Pretoria 


Goicnil  Dc  la  Rev  ami  a  i^rottp  of  Iih  Intrglwrs 
while  awaiting  a  British  attack. 


and  just  before  dark  the  retreat  from  the  defenses 
began.  As  the  entire  force  of  burghers  was  com- 
pelled to  take  one  narrow  road  between  the  hills, 
this  was  crowded  with  horsemen,  each  man  trying 
to  pass  the  others,  although  with  no  great  excite- 
ment. There  was  no  talking  in  the  procession ;  the 
men  rode  along  looking  like  an  army  of  spirits  in 
the  white  clouds  of  dust.  Mingled  with  the  horse- 
men were  men  on  bicycles,  whose  clothing  showed 
that  they  had  taken  no  part  in  the  campaign ;  men 
on  foot,  who  had  come  out  to  witness  the  fight,  and 

249 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


even  men  in  wagons.  Occasionally  a  gun  rumbled 
along.  All  were  bent  on  getting  into  Pretoria  as 
soon  as  possible.  Once  there,  however,  they  seemed 
in  no  hurry  to  leave,  many  remaining  until  the  next 
morning,  after  the  British  had  actually  entered  the 
town. 

As  I  rode  into  Pretoria  there  were  knots  of  people 
at  every  gatepost  and  in  every  doorway,  watching 
the  retreating  burghers,  bidding  good-by  to  their 
friends,  and  asking  all  sorts  of  questions  regarding 
the  advancing  army. 

I  stopped  at  the  Artillery  Barracks,  a  fine  large 
brick  building,  and  there  saw  Major  Erasmus,  a 
member  of  one  of  the  famous  fighting  families  of 
the  war;  apparently  he  had  not  inherited  the  fight- 
ing spirit,  for  he  had  taken  off  his  bandolier,  and  he 
told  me  that  he  was  going  to  quit.  Around  him  were 
a  few  more  of  the  same  mind,  and  sitting  on  a  horse 
near  by  was  an  old  burgher  talking  to  them  in  Dutch. 
It  needed  no  knowledge  of  the  language  to  appre- 
hend his  meaning,  for  he  was  evidently  speaking 
with  biting  sarcasm,  and  its  effect  was  plainly  seen 
in  the  faces  of  his  hearers.  Many  others  remained 
in  Pretoria  and  allowed  themselves  to  be  taken, 
afterwards  taking  the  oath  of  neutrality.  Only 
those  who  wished  to  fight  it  out  went  on.  The  faint- 
hearted ones  who  stayed  behind  were  snubbed  by 
all  the  women-folk  who  knew  them,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  many  who  broke  their  oath  of  neutral- 
ity and  again  took  to  the  field  did  so  in  order  to 
escape  the  taunts  of  the  patriotic  women. 

250 


The    British    in    Pretoria 


Lord  Roberts  s  advance  bodyguard  approaching 
Pretoria, 

At  the  Artillery  Barracks  were  all  of  the  British 
guns  that  had  been  captured  by  the  Boers,  but 
which  they  could  not  use.  None  of  them  was  de- 
stroyed, however,  and  eventually  they  again  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  English.  In  a  few  cases  the  breech 
block  was  broken,  but  aside  from  that  they  were  in 


iA^^-rf..r 


British  guns  captured  by  the  Boers. 

251 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


as  good  condition  as  on  the  day  they  were  taken. 
It  seems  strange  that  the  Boers  should  have  allowed 
them  to  go  back  to  the  enemy  uninjured  after  the 
battling  which  the  possession  of  them  had  cost ;  but 
one  commandant  said  that  he  could  not  see  why 
they  should  uselessly  destroy  property. 

It  was  said  that  a  couple  of  English  officers  with 
a  few  men  entered  Pretoria  that  night,  but  I  did 
not  see  them.  The  first  of  the  enemy  that  I  saw 
was  an  advance  body  next  day,  sent  in  to  occupy 
the  town  and  to  post  a  guard  on  all  public  buildings. 
I  heard  that  Lord  Roberts  and  his  staff  were  coming, 
and  I  rode  out  about  a  mile  to  meet  them.  I  then 
first  beheld  that  wdnderful  leader,  who  is  certainly 
one  of  the  greatest  generals  of  modern  times.  His 
staff  was  preceded  by  an  advance  bodyguard  of 
about  fifty  men;  twenty  men  rode  on  either  side  of 
the  road,  flanking  his  staff  by  about  one  hundred 
yards.  The  staff  was  so  large  that  it  looked  like  a 
regiment  in  itself.  At  the  head  I  recognized  Lord 
Roberts,  a  small  man  on  a  large  horse,  sitting  in  his 
saddle  as  though  pretty  well  worn  out  by  work.  He 
was  bundled  up  in  a  khaki  overcoat,  as  the  morning 
was  very  cold.  By  his  side  rode  Lord  Kitchener  on 
a  powerful  white  horse,  the  only  white  one  in  the 
staff.  That  horse  must  have  been  a  shining  mark 
in  action,  but  a  little  detail  of  that  sort  would  not 
trouble  a  man  of  Kitchener's  stamp. 

Immediately  behind  the  field  marshal  and  his 
chief  of  staff  rode  two  Indian  native  servants,  famil- 
iar figures  in  all  Lord   Roberts's  campaign,  for  he 

252 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


never  travels  without  them.  It  is  said  that  one  of 
them  saved  his  chief's  Hfe  in  India,  and  that  he  is 
now  retained  in  his  service  forever. 

Lord  Roberts  and  his  staff  rode  into  the  railway- 
station,  where  they  dismounted  and  made  arrange- 
ments for  the  formal  entry  and  occupation,  which 
was  to  occur  that  afternoon.  The  hour  set  was  two 
o'clock,  but  it  was  twenty  minutes  past  that  hour 
when  the  flag  was  raised.  The  square  had  been 
cleared  long  before  that  by  a  battalion  of  the  Guards, 
and  finally  the  field  marshal  and  his  staff  rode  in 
and  took  a  position  just  opposite  the  entrance  to 
the  state  building.  Immediately  after  his  entry 
the  drums  and  fifes  and  a  few  pieces  of  brass  played 
the  national  anthem,  and  every  one  saluted,  but  no 
flag  was  to  be  seen  at  that  moment.  Finally  a  mur- 
mur started  and  circulated  throughout  the  ranks  and 
the  crowd.  "There  it  is!"  exclaimed  some  one. 
"Where?"  asked  another.  "On  the  staff;  it's 
up."  "  No,  that  can't  be."  "  Yes,  it  really  is." 
And  it  was. 

By  looking  very  carefully  we  could  discern  a  little 
something  looking  like  a  stiff,  colored  table  mat  at 
the  top  of  the  high  mast,  but  it  was  not  recogniz- 
able as  the  Union  Jack.  It  was  afterwards  learned 
that  this  little  flag  was  made  by  Lady  Roberts, 
and  that  as  a  matter  of  sentiment  Lord  Roberts 
had  caused  it  to  be  raised.  But  that  bit  of  senti- 
ment had  robbed  the  occasion  of  all  the  patriotic 
enthusiasm  that  would  have  been  awakened  by  the 
sight  of  a  big,  magnificent  banner.     The  next  day 

254 


The    British    in    Pretoria 


.^    ... 


Lord  Roberts  and  Lord  Kitchener  with  staff  entering 
Pretoria  at  the  railway  station,  June  5,  1900.  The  two 
locomotives  on  the  right,  with  Boer  engineers,  were 
started  immediately  afterwards  in  an  attempt  to  escape 
to  the  Boer  lines. 


a  fifteen-foot  Union  Jack  was  hoisted,  and  the  men 
who  operated  the  moving-picture  apparatus  waited 
until  the  second  day  before  taking  the  pictures  of 
the  raising  of  the  British  flag  over  the  Transvaal 
which  were  to  be  shown  in  the  London  theatres. 

I  was  reminded  of  General  Shafter's  anxiety  at 
Santiago  on  the  morning  of  July  17th,  when  he  sent 
from  one  end  of  his  army  corps  to  another  to  find  a 

255 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


flag  large  enough  to  raise  over  the  palace,  and  of 
how  pleased  he  was  when  one  sufficiently  large  was 
finally  found.  He  said  that  day  that  the  affair 
would  not  be  a  success  unless  the  flag  was  large 
enough  to  show  that  it  Avas  waving. 

When  the  British  troops  entered  Pretoria,  their 
first  thought  was  for  their  unfortunate  brother  offi- 
cers who  were  imprisoned  there,  and  their  first  ques- 
tions were  regarding  them,  as  they  feared  they  had 
been  removed  by  the  Boers.  While  the  prepara- 
tions were  being  made  for  the  flag-raising,  the  im- 
prisoned officers  were  released,  and  came  down  town 
for  the  first  time  since  their  arrival.  Many  happy 
greetings  were  exchanged,  some  of  them  showing  an 
affection  betokening  relationship.  They  were  almost 
the  only  ones  who  did  any  cheering  that  day,  as  the 
soldiers  were  too  worn  out  and  the  townspeople 
were  too  sad. 

As  soon  as  the  flag  was  raised  the  march  past  was 
begun,  and  thousands  of  the  magnificent-looking 
troops  passed  in  review  before  Lord  Roberts.  The 
British  soldiers  made  a  fine  show,  although  they 
were  evidently  pretty  well  worn  out;  their  horses, 
too,  were  in  bad  condition.  The  Colonials  and  the 
Gordon  Highlanders  were  the  most  attractive  part 
of  the  review  and  made  the  best  showing.  The 
naval  guns  were  drawn  by  many  spans  of  oxen,  and 
looked  tremendously  business-like.  Under  ordinary 
conditions  the  spectacle  would  have  been  a  sight  to 
fill  a  spectator  with  enthusiasm  and  admiration  ;  but, 
somehow,  the  scene  seemed  more  an  occasion  of  sad- 

236 


The    British    in    Pretoria 


ness,  awakening  admiration  and  pity  for  that  little 
band  of  men  who  had  marched  out  into  the  night 
only  a  few  hours  before.  An  American  business 
man  of  Pretoria  watched  the  regiments  tramp  past, 
and  then  remarked,  "  Well,  I  think  the  best  way 
for  the  Boers  to  win  out  is  to  come  back  to-day 
and  march  in  review  before  this  army.  They 
would  not  need  to  fight  any  more,  for  this  whole 
lot  would  die  of  shame." 

There  was  not  a  very  large  crowd  to  witness  the 
occupation,  considering  the  number  of  people  in  the 
city,  for  very  few  of  the  Boer  sympathizers  came 
out,  and  in  most  cases  the  women  went  into  their 
houses,  closing  the  front  doors  and  windows  tightly, 
and  many  did  not  open  their  houses  until  they  were 
forced  to  come  out  to  attend  to  their  household 
marketing.  Along  the  verandas  of  the  Grand  Hotel 
and  in  the  street  in  front  of  the  hotel  a  few  ladies 
were  to  be  seen,  but  except  for  these  the  crowd  was 
composed  of  men,  mostly  blacks.  This  conspicuous 
absence  of  the  women  served  to  show  the  bitter  feel- 
ing and  intense  hatred  that  prevailed  among  the 
people. 

The  Union  Bank,  however,  a  British  institution, 
swung  out  two  large  Union  Jacks  in  honor  of  the 
event. 

While  the  review  was  passing,  a  corporal's  guard 
brought  in  two  Boer  prisoners,  who  were  marched 
into  the  square,  awaiting  whatever  disposition  was 
to  be  made  of  them.  One  was  a  man  about  fifty,  the 
other  a  boy  about  nine  years  old,  in  short  trousers; 
17  257 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


but  the  Httle  fellow  had  a  rifle,  and  was  held  as  a 
prisoner  of  war.  As  they  stood  there  I  could  not 
but  wonder  what  those  British  soldiers  thought  of 
such  a  sight. 

While  the  review  was  going  on,  I  stood  near  the 
Burgomaster  of  Pretoria,  a  man  whom  I  had  met 
with  General  Botha  and  Secretary  Reitz,  He  was 
a  man  who  had  held  the  highest  municipal  office 
under  the  Boer  government,  but  now  he  was  fawn- 
ing upon  a  major  of  staff,  telling  him  that  he  had 
always  hated  the  Dutch  government  and  everything 
connected  with  it.  To  gain  favor  in  the  eyes  of  his 
new  masters,  he  blackguarded  all  the  men  who  had 
made  him  what  he  was.  It  did  not  seem  possible 
that  this  pitiful  personage  could  be  the  same  man 
who  a  few  days  before  was  an  official  of  the  Boer 
government. 

As  soon  as  the  review  was  dismissed,  officers  and 
men  began  to  explore  the  town  and  to  fill  their 
pockets  with  souvenirs.  Stamps  and  coins  were 
especially  sought  after,  while  copies  of  the  extra 
Volkstein,  issued  the  night  before,  with  news  of 
Johannesburg's  fall  and  of  the  coming  battle,  were 
sold  for  five  pounds. 

Although  there  was  not  much  chance  to  get 
liquor,  the  men  found  what  they  wanted,  but  there 
was  a  surprising  absence  of  drunkenness.  To  my 
surprise  and  admiration,  I  saw  only  one  drunken 
soldier  in  that  entire  army  after  the  occupation. 

During  the  first  few  days  of  the  occupation  Lord 
Roberts  started  the  machinery  of  his  wonderful  gov- 

258 


Gordon  Highlanders  entering  Pretoria,  June  5,  1900. 


«^IAA 

^B  ^flHv^^^^H 

i 

mMm 

-  J  jfl 

^^ 

Ei-ii&l-r-#»c« 

Bga'.-^-^za 

WHP^.  ^  ■^BBj    *''' 'mml^^^K^      w 

•   ^ 

Types  of  the  crowd  who  watched  the  British  entry. 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


ernment,  and  in  a  very  short  time  everything  was 
running  smoothly.  All  stores  and  storehouses  were 
put  under  guard  and  the  contents  commandeered 
for  military  use;  although,  when  the  stock  was  the 
property  of  private  individuals,  a  good  price  was  paid 
for  it.  If  the  burghers  had  had  sufficient  presence 
of  mind  or  the  inclination  to  destroy  all  the  stores 
in  Pretoria,  the  army  under  Lord  Roberts  would 
have  been  not  only  seriously  embarrassed,  but  in 
a  very  critical  condition.  As  it  was,  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  Boer  rations  was  left  to  keep  the  Brit- 
ish going  until  the  railroad  was  opened.  In  one 
building  enough  forage  had  been  left  by  the  Boers  to 
keep  the  stock  supplied  until  more  could  arrive.  A 
single  match  would  have  prevented  this,  but  one  of 
the  Boer  commandants  said  regarding  it,  "  Oh,  it 
would  be  such  a  wanton  destruction  of  property!  " 
They  preferred  to  allow  it  all  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  their  enemies  than  to  burn  it.  If  they  had  de- 
stroyed it  the  horses  would  have  had  practically 
nothing  to  eat,  and  all  operations  would  necessarily 
have  been  stopped, 

A  corps  of  correspondents  came  in  with  Roberts's 
army,  and  they  were  all  very  anxious  to  hear  of  the 
events  that  had  occurred  on  the  Boer  side.  Mr. 
Dinwiddie,  of  Harper  s  Weekly,  was  one  of  the 
first  in  Pretoria;  he  had  but  recently  come  over  from 
the  Philippines,  where  he  had  been  with  General 
Lawton,  but  he  had  seen  all  the  British  advance 
since  Bloemfontein.  I  had  last  seen  him  during 
the  Cuban  campaign.    Another  veteran  of  the  Santi- 

260 


The    British    in    Pretoria 


ago  campaign  was  Mr,  Atkins,  of  the  Manchester 
Guardian.  The  famous  war  correspondent,  Mr.  J^en- 
nett  Burleigh,  was  also  among  the  first  to  arrive. 
He  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  profession,  and  before 
he  began  writing  he  fought  with  the  Confederacy 
during  our  Civil  War.  Mr.  Barnes  and  Mr.  Jenkins 
were  two  more  of  the  American  correspondents, 
although  they  were  representing  English  papers. 

Some  of  the  wagons  that  were  used  by  the  corres- 
pondents and  the  attaches  were  grotesque  affairs. 
One  of  them  was  a  pie-wagon,  with  a  door  in  the 
back ;  its  possessor  had  cut  a  hole  in  the  roof  and 
run  a  stovepipe  out  so  that  he  could  cook  in  any 
kind  of  weather.  There  were  a  good  many  grocers' 
wagons,  but  the  most  common  conveyance  was  the 
two-wheeled  Cape  cart. 

As  soon  as  Lord  Roberts  took  possession,  he  is- 
sued a  conciliatory  proclamation,  telling  the  burghers 
who  wished  to  lay  doAvn  their  arms  and  take  the 
oath  binding  them  to  neutrality  that  they  would 
not  be  made  prisoners  of  war.  A  number  availed 
themselves  of  this  ofTer,  and  most  of  them  kept  their 
promises;  but  subsequent  events  made  many  of 
them  take  up  arms  again. 

The  execution  of  young  Cordua  for  conspiracy  did 
much  to  help  the  Boer  cause  by  reviving  fainting 
spirits  with  the  spur  of  new  indignation.  Every  one 
in  Pretoria  knew  that  there  had  been  no  plot  what- 
ever, and  that  the  rumors  of  the  supposed  conspiracy 
had  been  spread  by  the  agents  of  the  British  govern- 
ment.    The  young  man  was  known  to  be  simple- 

261 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


minded,  and  therefore  was  not  responsible  for  his 
actions,  but  his  death  was  a  great  stimulus  to  those 
fighting  for  the  Boer  cause.  The  proclamation  re- 
garding the  burning  and  destroying  of  all  farms  in 
the  vicinity  of  a  railroad  or  telegraph  line  that  was 
cut  also  sent  many  men  back  into  the  field  and 
made  many  new  recruits.  No  matter  how  loyal  a 
feeling  a  farmer  might  have  towards  the  English,  he 
could  not  prevent  some  one  from  coming  down  from 
the  hills  in  the  night  and  blowing  up  the  tracks  or 
bridges  somewhere  within  ten  miles  of  his  home; 
but  if  this  happened  his  house  was  burned,  and 
almost  invariably  the  burghers  who  were  thus  de- 
prived of  their  homesteads  went  on  commando  to 
stay  to  the  bitter  end. 

One  proclamation  was  issued  compelling  every 
man  and  boy  to  register  his  presence  in  Pretoria; 
and  another,  ordering  that  all  firearms  of  every  de- 
scription be  turned  in  to  the  provost  marshal ;  this 
included  sporting  rifles,  shotguns,  gallery  rifles,  and, 
in  fact,  every  arm  that  called  for  powder.  It  was 
not  permitted  to  any  one  to  ride  or  drive  a  horse, 
or  ride  a  bicycle,  without  having  obtained  a  special 
permit.  Most  of  these  orders  were  quite  necessary 
and  did  no  one  any  great  harm.  At  times  the  restric- 
tion was  troublesome,  but  that  was  all ;  and,  upon 
the  whole,  considering  the  fact  that  the  town  was  un- 
der military  rule,  the  British  government  was  lenient. 

The  women  of  Pretoria  were  intensely  bitter 
against  the  British,  and  did  not  scruple  to  show  it. 
For  several  days  not  one  was  seen  on  the  streets. 

262 


The    British    in    Pretoria 


After  a  time  they  came  out  of  their  houses,  but 
very  seldom  would  they  have  anything  to  say  to  the 
invaders.  They  showed  the  same  spirit  said  to  have 
been  shown  by  our  colonial  women  towards  the 
British,  the  same  that  the  women  of  the  Southern 
States  showed  towards  the  Northern  soldiers,  and 
the  same  that  the  French  women  felt  against  the 
Germans.  In  their  hearts  was  bitter  hatred,  but 
politeness  and  gentle  breeding  toned  their  actions 
to  suavity  that  was  sometimes  mistaken  for  weak- 
ness by  a  race  that  has  never  been  noted  for  its 
subtle  sense  of  discrimination. 

Lord  Roberts  invited  Mrs.  Botha  to  dinner  one 
night,  soon  after  the  occupation  of  Pretoria,  and 
she  accepted  the  invitation.  Immediately  the  rumor 
was  spread  throughout  the  army,  and  was  construed 
by  the  British  to  mean  that  General  Botha  was  going 
to  surrender  at  once,  and  that  his  wife  was  going 
to  influence  him  to  do  so.  '  On  the  contrary,  Mrs. 
Botha  told  me  that  if  he  did  surrender  as  long  as 
there  was  a  possible  chance  to  fight,  she  would  never 
speak  to  him  again.  Her  eyes  flashed  and  her  man- 
ner was  very  far  from  that  of  a  woman  who  was 
weakening  because  she  had  dined  with  the  com- 
mander-in-chief. She  obviously  had  her  reasons 
for  doing  it,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  General 
Botha  heard  all  that  went  on  from  herself  the  next 
morning.  The  system  of  communication  between 
the  burghers  in  the  field  and  their  families  was  facile 
and  well  conducted,  and  the  women  kept  the  men 
informed  of  every  move  of  the  British. 

263 


Blue    Shirt   and    Khaki 


One  afternoon  I  was  riding  along  the  streets  of 
Pretoria  with  an  English  ofificer,  and  we  passed 
General  Botha's  little  son.  I  pointed  him  out  to 
my  companion,  who  pulled  up  to  talk  with  him. 
He  was  a  boy  of  seven  or  eight,  bright  and  good 
looking.  The  ofificer  asked  him  what  he  thought  of 
the  British  soldiers  now  that  he  had  seen  them. 

"  Oh,  they're  all  right,"  he  answered  evasively. 

"  Well,  from  now  on  you  will  live  under  the  Brit- 
ish flag,"  said  the  ofificer,  trying  to  tease  him  in  a 
good-natured  way. 

"  Perhaps,"  he  replied,  shrugging  his  shoulders. 

"  And  you  will  become  just  as  much  an  English- 
man as  any  of  us,  and  like  it,"  continued  the  ofificer. 

In  an  instant  all  the  boy's  evasiveness  was  gone; 
his  fists  clenched  and  his  head  came  up  sharply. 

"  I  never  will  be  English !  "  he  exclaimed  vehe- 
mently. "  I  hate  you  all!  You  may  make  us  live 
under  that  flag,  but  you'll  never  make  us  like  it — 
never!  "  And  he  stamped  his  foot  to  emphasize 
his  tirade  against  the  enemies  who  had  driven  his 
father  away.  This  is  the  spirit  shown  on  every  side 
in  the  Transvaal,  the  Orange  Free  State,  and  even 
in  Cape  Colony  itself.  The  people  seem  contented 
enough  until  they  are  stirred,  and  then  their  liberty- 
loving  blood  makes  them  speak  their  real  feeling. 

A  few  days  after  the  occupation  a  pretty  young 
woman,  tastefully  dressed  in  a  white  summer  gown, 
appeared  on  the  street  with  a  large  bow  of  the  na- 
tional colors,  red,  white,  blue,  and  green,  pinned  on 
her  shoulder.    An  ofificer  stopped  her  and  told  her  to 

264 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


take  it  off,  but  she  looked  at  him  contemptuously 
and  turned  away.  He  stopped  lier  again,  and 
finally  removed  the  colors  himself.  The  young  lady 
made  no  resistance,  but  passed  on.  Within  half  an 
hour  she  was  out  with  another  equally  large  bow  of 
the  colors.  Again  it  was  taken  away  from  her,  and 
again  she  put  on  another  knot  of  ribbons.  The 
matter  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  military 
governor,  and  she  was  told  that  if  it  happened  again 
she  would  be  put  in  jail;  but  it  did  happen  again 
just  as  fast  as  she  could  get  the  ribbon  to  put  on. 
Whether  she  was  arrested  or  not  I  never  knew,  but 
I  saw  her  on  the  street  several  days  later  still  wear- 
ing the  colors  of  her  country. 

For  some  days  before  the  British  arrived,  the 
prices  in  Pretoria  for  provisions  of  all  kinds  had 
advanced  to  unheard-of  figures.  There  seemed  to 
be  a  suflficient  quantity  of  everything,  except  white 
flour;  but  those  who  had  stock  on  hand  were  mak- 
ing the  best  of  their  opportunity.  The  flour  seemed 
to  have  been  "  cornered  "  by  the  bakers,  for  they 
were  all  furnishing  bread  regularly,  and  were  charg- 
ing from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents  a  loaf,  according 
to  the  size.  This  was  considered  very  cheap  in  com- 
parison with  the  price  asked  for  a  sack  of  flour  a  few 
days  before,  the  lowest  price  then  being  five  pounds. 
"  Mealies,"  or  common  corn,  sold  at  thirty  to  sixty 
shillings  unground,  the  regular  price  being  six  or 
eight  shillings.  As  this  corn  was  used  only  to  feed 
animals  it  made  the  expense  of  keeping  a  horse 
rather  high.      Up  to  this  time  the   English  have  not 

266 


The    British    in    Pretoria 


discovered  the  value  of  Indian  corn  as  a  food  prod- 
uct, although  many  attempts  have  been  made  to  in- 
troduce it  into  England.  There  was  an  abundance 
of  canned  goods  that  sold  at  a  fairly  reasonable  price, 
and  also  plenty  of  fresh  beef,  although  it  was  of  the 
trek-ox  variety,  and  almost  impossible  to  eat. 

When  the  British  army  entered  the  capital,  with 
over  forty  thousand  hungry  men,  looking  for  any- 
thing as  a  change  from  the  regular  ration,  prices 
jumped  higher  still,  and  the  stocks  in  the  various 
stores  speedily  vanished.  One  of  the  first  official 
acts  of  the  new  government  was  to  place  a  guard 
over  the  various  provision  stores,  allowing  no  one  to 
buy  without  an  order  from  one  in  authority.  This 
was  done  to  prevent  some  of  the  officers'  messes 
from  buying  up  everything  in  sight. 

Fresh  vegetables  were  exceedingly  scarce,  al- 
though very  early  in  the  mornings  some  came  in 
from  the  country,  and  it  was  always  a  case  of  the 
"  early  bird  "  as  to  who  was  fortunate  enough  to 
get  hold  of  them.  Butter  was  a  greater  luxury  than 
champagne,  and  if  any  was  secured  a  dinner  party 
was  sure  to  follow. 

"  Come  up  and  dine  with  me  to-night;  I've  got 
some  butter,"  was  the  strongest  invitation  that 
could  be  issued,  and  one  that  was  never  refused. 

Consul  Hay  kept  many  men  and  women  from 
going  hungry,  for  he  had  laid  in  a  large  stock  of 
provisions  against  the  expected  siege  of  Pretoria; 
consequently  he  had  plenty  of  food  stuffs  to  spare, 
and  any  one  who  was  known  to  be  needy  was  wel- 

267 


Blue    Shirt    and    Khaki 


come  to  a  share.  He  also  stabled  several  horses 
for  their  owners  when  there  was  absolutely  no  for- 
age to  be  bought  at  any  price. 

When  prices  had  reached  an  impossible  mark, 
Lord  Roberts  took  the  matter  in  hand  and  issued  a 
proclamation  giving  a  list  of  all  necessary  articles 
and  the  legal  prices  to  be  charged  for  them,  and 
any  one  asking  more  was  liable  to  severe  punish- 
ment. Some  found  a  way  to  evade  the  order  by 
giving  short  weight;  but  a  few  days  later  the  first 
supply  train  came  in  from  the  southern  base  of  sup- 
plies, and  then  prices  resumed  their  natural  scale. 

It  was  an  irremediable  military  blunder  for  the 
retreating  burghers  not  to  destroy  all  supplies  and 
forage  in  Pretoria.  Even  as  it  was,  Lord  Roberts 
had  made  three  attempts  to  advance  his  main  force, 
and  each  time  was  compelled  to  retire,  not  because 
of  the  force  of  the  Boers  opposing  him,  but  because 
of  his  inability  to  get  rations  up  to  his  troops. 

It  was  not  a  glorious  entry,  and  the  occupation 
was  not  so  satisfactory  to  the  British  themselves 
that  the  word  "  Pretoria"  on  the  regimental  stand- 
ards will  stir  a  soldier's  throb  for  many  years  to 
come.  Some  day  the  blunders  will  be  forgotten,  the 
human  wrongs  will  grow  dim  in  distance,  and  only 
the  glory  of  efTort  and  the  benefit  to  civilization 
will  be  thought  of;  but  not  until  then  will  the 
British  be  proud  of  their  conquest. 

The  burghers  in  this  the  first  city  of  their  fair 
land  are  conscientious  and  honest ;  they  know  they 
have  the  right  on  their  side,  and  they  are  willing  to 

268 


The    British    in    Pretoria 


pray  and  die  for  it.  The  Engh'sh  do  not  understand 
these  plain  folk  as  we  would,  for  we  have  the  same 
sort  of  men  and  women.  Instead  of  trying  to  under- 
stand them,  the  English  are  prone  to  ridicule  them. 

Their  devotion  to  the  faith  in  which  they  believe 
has  been  a  special  target  for  this  ridicule,  although 
I  never  saw  the  time  when  they  made  that  devotion 
obnoxious  to  even  the  lowest  unbeliever.  They 
worship  in  their  own  way,  believe  in  their  own  creed, 
which  is  very  like  that  of  the  great  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  When  I  listened  to 
the  Dutch  pastor  preach  that  last  sermon  before  the 
British  entered  Pretoria,  I  heard  nothing  that  could 
offend  any  one;  and  yet,  less  than  two  weeks  later, 
at  my  own  table,  in  the  presence  of  half  a  dozen 
British  officers,  an  English  chaplain  told  us  as  a 
great  joke,  over  his  brandy  and  soda,  that  he  had 
heard  of  a  sermon  that  was  preached  exhorting 
the  Boers  to  fight,  and  that  he  had  informed  the 
provost  marshal  and  had  the  Dutch  pastor  thrown 
into  jail.  After  a  moment's  pause  he  added,  "  I 
occupied  his  pulpit  myself  last  Sunday." 

"  Well,"  said  one  of  the  British  officers,  "  that  is 
a  method  of  getting  a  pulpit  that  I  never  heard  of 
before." 


26g 


!£.^J^^'"^  °-'-"  -iBRARYFAaUTY 


A     000  751  621     4 


